OKLAHOMA CITY — In the wake of Indiana’s come-from-ahead Game 4 loss, Pacers fans were frustrated. Very frustrated. One gentleman approached me while I was still sitting in a media area, and asked if I was writing about the game, and if so did I know how few times Tyrese Haliburton had been to the free throw line (once). My response that "Tyrese doesn't really drive like that" — meaning he doesn't drive with force seeking contact like Giannis Antetokounmpo or even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton is more finesse — wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. Nor was my comment that it was called both ways, that the Pacers took just five fewer free throws than the Thunder.
That gentleman's frustration echoed throughout Indianapolis and beyond after the game — Bill Simmons blasted the officiating on his podcast — with much of the ire focused on lead official Scott Foster, who has long been a lightning rod among fans.
Before Game 5, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stuck up for Foster.
"I think it's awful some of the things I've seen about the officiating, and Scott Foster in particular," Carlisle said. "I've known Scott Foster for 30 years. He is a great official. He has done a great job in these playoffs. We've had him a lot of times. The ridiculous scrutiny that is being thrown out there is terrible and unfair and unjust and stupid."
Carlise did not want to get into specifics on what he was responding to. Foster is one of the highest-rated officials, according to the NBA's metrics. He's seen as fair and consistent, which is why he has worked 26 NBA Finals games across 18 seasons. After Game 4, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault acknowledged that there were a lot of whistles, but he thought the officiating was fair.
"There were a crap ton of fouls. That's why there were a crap ton of free throws," Daigneault said. "I thought the refs did a good job tonight. Both teams shot a lot of free throws. It was physical. That was what the game was. It was a physical game on both ends of the floor for both teams."
One play that Pacers fans focused on was Gilgeous-Alexander's baseline step back jumper to take the lead with 2:23 remaining in the fourth — they wanted him called for using the off arm or a travel.
Should this have been an offensive foul or travel by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?? pic.twitter.com/TzOYkn8cY9
First, that's not a travel under the NBA's definition, while SGA stumbles, it's a gather and two steps. Second, there is a case that Gilgeous-Alexander could be called for pushing off, although Nesmith sells the contact. That's not the way the officials had called it all game, but the case can be made that they should have called it there. Pacers fans may want to be careful about asking for more calls with off arms because that would fall both ways and Pascal Siakam, among others in Indiana, would rack up more fouls.
Whatever happens in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night, and going forward, the officiating will be scrutinized. Just don't expect it to be what decides the game.
The Boston Red Sox moved on from another face-of-the-franchise player Sunday when they traded designated hitter Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in a shocking move.
Just hours after sweeping the rival New York Yankees and building some real, positive momentum for the first time all season, the Red Sox dealt Devers for a package that included left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks, minor league outfielder James Tibbs III and minor league right-handed pitcher Jose Bello.
The return was underwhelming, to put it mildly. None of these players or prospects have star potential, although Tibbs could develop into a useful player. He was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
One of the most significant aspects of the trade for the Red Sox was they managed to offload all of the $254 million remaining on Devers’ 10-year, $313 million contract.
The SF #Giants will assume all of Rafael Devers remaining contract:
As a result, the Red Sox could have a lot of money to spend in the offseason in the free agent and/or trade markets. And in addition to getting rid of Devers’ contract, the Red Sox also have the salaries of Walker Buehler ($21 million) and Lucas Giolito ($19 million), among others, coming off the books following the 2025 season.
While the Devers trade itself looks like a huge blunder based on the return, this deal ultimately will be judged by how the Red Sox are able to upgrade their roster with the money they saved by moving him.
So, which players could potentially be available for the Red Sox to spend their money on this winter?
Here’s a list of notable players who are able to become unrestricted free agents after the 2025 season. It should be noted that some of them could remain with their current teams.
Kyle Tucker, RF, Cubs
Tucker likely will be the best position player available, assuming he reaches the open market. The Cubs traded for him last offseason, and he’s one of the primary reasons why they lead the National League Central Division right now.
He is batting .277 with 13 home runs, 43 RBI, a .389 on-base percentage and a .893 OPS. Tucker also won the 2022 World Series with the Houston Astros. The 28-year-old veteran would be very expensive to sign, and the Red Sox don’t have a huge need in the outfield. But if the Red Sox want a proven bat for their lineup, Tucker is worth pursuing.
The Red Sox have a massive need for a first baseman, the position where Alonso has made a huge impact on the Mets for many years. He’s also having a tremendous season, hitting .293 with 17 home runs and a league-leading 63 RBI. His .960 OPS ranks fifth among all players. Alonso will be 31 in December, and he might need to switch to DH at some point, but his ability to play first base and be very productive at the plate would make him an interesting target for Boston.
Another option at first base for the Red Sox could be Naylor, who set career highs with 31 home runs and 108 RBI for the Cleveland Guardians last season. He is hitting .300 with nine homers, 48 RBI and an .827 OPS in 69 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025. Naylor isn’t an amazing defensive player at first base, but he would add some reliable offensive production to Boston’s lineup.
Dylan Cease, SP, Padres
The Red Sox need another ace to join Garrett Crochet atop the rotation, and Cease could be one of the top pitchers available in the offseason. He is the only pitcher who has struck out 200-plus batters in each of the last four seasons, and with 96 strikeouts in 14 games this year, he’s on pace to hit that mark again.
His 2025 season — 2-5, 4.28 ERA, 1.30 WHIP — has been disappointing so far. But in his last start on June 11, Cease pitched seven innings and gave up just three hits and zero runs, while striking out 11 in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cease would be a huge addition to the Red Sox rotation, but would their front office splurge for a starter who will be 30 years old on Opening Day 2026?
Zac Gallen, SP, Diamondbacks
Gallen is not having a great 2025 campaign so far. He is 4-8 with a 5.19 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP and 0.4 WAR. However, he has been a very good pitcher for the Diamondbacks over the last four seasons, including two top-five finishes in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 and 2023.
Framber Valdez, SP, Astros
Valdez will be 32 years old at the start of next season, so he might not be the best long-term fit for the Red Sox, but he is a very talented and reliable starter. He has started at least 28 games for the Astros in each of the last three years. He’s having a good 2025 season, too, posting a 7-4 record with a 3.10 ERA, 96 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP in 14 appearances so far.
And if the Red Sox get back to the postseason in the short term, Valdez would be a nice pitcher to have in that kind of atmosphere given his previous experience and success in big games. He pitched fantastic during the Astros’ run to a 2022 World Series title.
The Giants’ trade with the Boston Red Sox for three-time MLB All-Star Rafael Devers left the baseball world stunned ever since news broke minutes before San Francisco’s series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
Considering how unexpected the move for the 28-year-old was – especially its unusual timing – many fans even initially doubted the deal was real, much like NBA fans did when news broke of the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers swapping Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis in early February.
A TikTok posted by user @eileenflynn11 captured the immediate reactions of what appeared to be a crowd of Red Sox fans who truly didn’t believe Boston was sending Devers to San Francisco, especially after he helped his old club sweep the New York Yankees.
Most people laughed and mocked the original poster for throwing out what appeared to be an outlandish, April Fools-esque joke. But they soon realized she wasn’t kidding and that Devers was bound for the Bay.
Indeed, it was a “tough day for Boston Dads,” as the post’s caption read.
Another TikTok, posted by user @patsatonafatcat, captured what probably was an even worse moment – a Red Sox fan being gifted a shirt with Devers’ last name and number on it minutes after the trade broke the internet.
Keep the tags on that one.
While Boston fans were heartbroken and clearly in disbelief, San Francisco fans couldn’t be more excited.
The Giants are getting one of the best bats in baseball, and if things go well over the eight years remaining on the 10-year contract Devers signed with the Red Sox in 2023, there’s a real chance the left-handed slugger could be remembered as a West Coast superstar despite being part of Boston’s organization since he was a 16-year-old prospect.
And that’s considering that back in 2020, Betts, who was crowned 2018 World Series Champion along with Devers, was traded by the Red Sox to the Dodgers along with a slew of players.
“I just thought it was crazy,” said Betts of Devers’ trade to the Giants (h/t The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya). “Nothing really to say, it’s just crazy.”
The 28-year-old slugger joins the Giants in exchange for pitchers Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello.
The three-time MLB All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger is estimated to make roughly $250 million over the next eight-plus seasons, likely securing his long-term future in the Bay Area.
Surely, Devers will look to follow Betts’ lead in winning two more World Series with his new team.
Ironically, Betts is now Devers’ top rival to beat.
LOS ANGELES — A couple of weeks ago, the Giants had one of the worst first base situations in baseball. They woke up Monday morning with a different dilemma: Will they now be able to find enough at-bats for Wilmer Flores, the team RBI leader, and Dominic Smith, who has hit the ground running in orange and black?
President of baseball operations Buster Posey and manager Bob Melvin said late Sunday night that they want to talk to Devers before deciding where he will play, but it seems likely he’ll be the everyday DH once all the dust settles and everyone gets healthy.
That would mean more starts at first base for Flores, and possibly a platoon there with Smith. If either loses significant time — and it should be noted that the sample size with Smith is extremely small — that will only strengthen what has been a weak bench.
There’s a lot to sort out, but on Sunday night, Smith was all smiles. After the game at Dodger Stadium, he said Devers, his teammate in 2024, will be a perfect fit with this group.
“The thing that I admire is he wanted to play every day. The stuff behind the scenes — he’s a grinder, he doesn’t want a day off, he wants to play against the elite pitching and he wants to be in the big moments and he wants to win,” Smith said. “I know this is a crazy last few hours, but we’ve got a really, really, really talented ballplayer. Young, right in his prime, I can’t wait to see how many balls he hits in the cove.”
Smith has the most experience with Devers, but a lot has changed since they were teammates. Last year, Devers was in the first season of a 10-year contract extension that promised to make him the face of the franchise in Boston. But in the offseason, the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman, kicking off what turned into months of drama. Devers wasn’t thrilled, and he didn’t want to move to first base in-season when Triston Casas went down with a season-ending knee injury.
Smith said his own experience with Devers was all positive, noting repeatedly that Devers just wants to play every day.
“He’s going to come in and play hard and show the fans what type of player he is,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to see him do his thing.”
The most excited player in the Giants’ clubhouse might have been another infielder. Willy Adames has been friends with Devers for about a decade, and they exchanged texts after the deal became official. Adames was so fired up that he forgot to stretch before the finale against the Dodgers.
“You see the numbers every year that he always puts up in Boston,” Adames said. “We need someone like that … when we get Chappy back, it’s going to be a problem for pitchers.”
Devers has a .905 OPS and 15 homers, and he’s 15th among big leaguers with a wRC+ of 148. By that last metric, the Giants — yes, the San Francisco Giants — will soon have three of the top 32 hitters in baseball in their lineup. Chapman, who is out another three or four weeks, ranks 30th and Heliot Ramos is 32nd.
The addition should be a game-changing one for the lineup, and it stunned the rest of the industry. Devers, 28, is not the type of player who ever gets traded in June, but the back-and-forth about his position led to a falling out in Boston. Management there apparently had seen and heard enough and was eager to move on, but Posey said Sunday that he did his due diligence and came away convinced that there was simply miscommunication in Boston, and that Devers will be a positive addition to the clubhouse.
Adames gave a full endorsement Sunday night, and he said he texted Devers that everyone in the clubhouse was excited to play with him. Devers responded that he was fired up about the trade.
“He’s great, he’s great. He’s a great guy,” Adames said. “Obviously, there has been some miscommunication there. I think that from what I know from him, I know he likes to know things. He wants people to communicate to him and be honest, you know? I feel like here with Buster, that’s all we’ve got.
“Buster is a super honest guy, he’s going to be straight up (and Devers) is going to love that. He’s going to feel comfortable here. I know that for a fact.”
It's a trade that could see Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals next season, but did they overpay for Desmond Bane? Four firsts are a lot. However, whether they overpaid will depend on how Bane fits. Is this a first-year Mikal Bridges with the Knicks fit, where the big haul feels like an overpay now? Or, is it more of a Pascal Siakam with the Pacers fit? Time will tell.
We're going to break down the winners and losers from this trade, but let's start by breaking down the trade itself:
Orlando receives: Desmond Bane Memphis receives: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, the No. 16 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, a 2026 pick swap (the highest spot of the Magic, Suns, and Wizards), two more unprotected first round picks (2028 and 2030), and a 2029 first-round pick with Orlando.
Winner: Orlando’s offense
Everything you need to know about Orlando was on display in its first-round playoff loss to Boston: Its elite defense kept the Magic in games, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner averaged 29.4 and 25.8 points per game, respectively, but did so inefficiently, with true shooting percentages well below the league average. As a team, they shot just 26.3% from 3 for the series. They couldn't score enough to keep up (Boston having a quality defense was part of that).
Desmond Bane is an underrated player and a perfect fit for what the Magic need. First and foremost, he is a knock-down shooter, converting 39.2% of his 3-point shots on 6.1 attempts per game last season. That volume was his fewest attempts per game in four years. He will give the Magic some spacing that Caldwell-Pope did not. Bane also evolved into the secondary playmaker in Memphis behind Ja Morant (and when Morant missed time, Bane was the guy at the top of the scouting report).
He checks all of Orlando's boxes. The idea of a Bane/Banchero pick-and-roll is devastating.
If the Magic can maintain a top-five defense (Bane is a solid defender) and improve their offense from 27th to just league average, this team will quickly become a top-10 net rating team, potentially securing a top-four spot in the East.
Given that we are expecting a down Eastern Conference following Jayson Tatum's injury, Orlando picked the right time to go all-in. The Magic making the Eastern Conference Finals (at least) next season does not seem crazy at all, and adding Bane could be the missing piece to making that leap.
Winner: Desmond Bane
Bane is an underrated player, a guy who, over the last three seasons combined, has averaged more than 20 points and five assists per game. The Orlando Magic are a team on the rise that lacked the shooting and guard play that Bane brings to the table.
Bane is a winner because this is a better situation for him — he is now going to get that recognition. He's plug-and-play in Orlando, he doesn't have to change who he is, and who he is could well make him an All-Star and more. It doesn't hurt that this trade raised his profile.
Loser: NBA Finals
Adam Silver does not like trades during the NBA Finals and Sunday was a good example of why: On a day the league would like the focus on a pivotal Game 5 between the Pacers and Thunder, in an exciting series tied 2-2, the talk instead was whether Orlando overpaid to get Bane. Focused moved away from the game on the court to the transaction market.
There was already a lot of that with the Kevin Durant saga and the Knicks coaching search, but this trade ramped it up. The Finals took a back seat for the day, not the narrative the league wants to see.
Winner: Memphis’ optionality
This feels like the first of a few bold moves by Memphis this summer. Memphis realized that the plan and roster they had weren't good enough. Now, largely thanks to those four first-round picks, they can go a lot of different directions in the future.
For example, in the wake of the trade, there was considerable speculation online that the Grizzlies might use this as an opportunity to tear down and rebuild: Trade Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., pick up more young players and picks, and start the rebuild process from the ground up. Memphis could go that route, and other teams are watching to see what happens next, but the expectation around the league is more that this is a retooling in Memphis, not a teardown.
Memphis has plenty of other options. They can use those picks — particularly the 2026 pick swap that gives them the best of the Suns and Wizards next season — to add talent through the draft. Or, they can trade some of those picks to go after another star they think would be a better fit than Bane.
This trade, on the face of it, makes a Jaren Jackson Jr. extension less likely because the Grizzlies reduced their cap space in the short term. Now, with those picks, they could make another trade to offload salary, giving them the space to raise JJJ's salary now and then extend him off that number. (Jackson, for his part, may want to play out the year on his $23.4 million contract and then hit free agency, hope he can make All-NBA — he was 17th in the voting this past season — and be in line for a supermax.)
Winner: Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are seeking a massive haul to trade 37-year-old, future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant. The belief around the league was that they would not get near the return they sought.
Now, if Desmond Bane is worth four first-round picks, what is Kevin Durant worth? It's unlikely to be enough to get the Suns what they're asking — different market, different teams, different situation — but it gives them a little leverage.
Entering the Stanley Cup Final, there was an expectation that a future Hall of Fame player would put on a show worthy of being labeled one of the best the NHL has seen during his career.
We just thought it would be someone else.
There is no arguing that Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid possesses a combination of talents that put him in a class all his own.
That’s why there was a bit of an expectation that he would stand out during the championship series for all the right reasons.
Now while McDavid has quite good during the Final, racking up a goal and six assists so far in the five games against Florida, he hasn’t exactly taken the series over or blown anyone away with his otherworldly skills.
Instead, the player who has captured everyone’s attention and basically grabbed the NHL by the shirt collar and said “Hey, remember me?!” is Panthers forward Brad Marchand.
“It’s just him, that's how he is,” said Florida center Anton Lundell. “He really has this passion, you could see (in Game 5), he decided he wanted to go out there and be the difference maker, and he did that.”
He sure did.
Marchand hit the ice for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton on Saturday and stole the show, scoring a pair of highlight-reel goals, one of which stood up as the game-winner, while helping Florida to a resounding 5-2 victory that placed them one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup.
“It’s those big moments when you need guys to step up,” said Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. “Time and time again, he’s there to produce.”
And produce he has.
So far during the playoffs, Marchand has racked up 10 goals and 20 points through Florida’s 22 postseason games.
Of those 10 goals, six of them have been scored during the Stanley Cup Final.
“He's very gifted offensively,” said Lundell.
Marchand’s contributions to the Panthers go well beyond just the scoresheet, though.
According to his new head coach, Marchand is also a source of constant positive energy and feedback for his teammates.
Whether in the locker room, at the practice rink or on the bench during games, Marchand is constantly talking to his fellow Cats, pumping them full of good vibes and hockey knowledge.
“He does everything, he's a guy that that we follow,” said Panthers forward Sam Bennett. “He's a natural leader, he speaks up when he needs to speak, and he goes out there and does the hard work that is inspiring for guys. We all look up to him and look to him to lead, and he's done a fantastic job.”
It’s not like the skills and veteran savvy that the 37-year-old Marchand possesses come as any big surprise.
He’s been one of the best in the game throughout his career, but now that the Panthers are seeing all the little details up close, they are getting an even better perspective on what makes him so special.
“The thing about players, when they come in, is you have a really strong idea (about them), you do all your pre-scout, you get it, and then you get on the ice with them in practice, and hat's when you learn,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “I said this right from the start, clearly, he’s closing in on 1,000 points, he’s got good hands, but I didn't fully appreciate a small area things that he can do, and that's the most difficult to do. It's not the rink-wide pass on the tape that you get excited about, but what he can do under duress in a small area is world class, it’s as good as I've seen.”
As we enter the home stretch of the Final, it's interesting to remember that it wasn’t Marchand we were expecting this kind of in-your-face production from. It was McDavid.
But alas, the most recent, crucial game in the Stanley Cup Final, which was played in Edmonton, did not see anyone in an Oilers sweater stealing the show.
Nope.
It was Marchand scoring a pair of eye-popping goals while helping his Panthers reach within one win of a Stanley Cup Championship.
“Those are the goals you look on YouTube when you’re a kid and try to go out and practice yourself,” said Lundell. “We’re all pretty amazed by him.”
Photo caption: Jun 4, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) reacts after scoring a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period in game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)
The Boston Celtics just completed the most prolific 3-point shooting season in NBA history.
The C’s set league records for total 3-pointers made, 3-pointers made per game and 3-pointers attempted per game. No team values the importance of the 3-point shot more than the Celtics, and it’s a strategy that has produced fantastic results, including a 2024 championship.
Lanier is one of the best outside shooters in this draft class. He made 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers on 8.2 attempts per game for the Volunteers last season. He shot 39.5 percent on 3-pointers in his five-year collegiate career.
Lanier’s ability to knock down 3s at a high rate is among the reasons why our Celtics insider Chris Forsberg believes the Tennessee star would be a good target for Boston in the second round.
“Chaz Lanier loves math. Well, at least the kind of math Joe Mazzulla likes, which is to say: he shoots threes,” Forsberg said, as seen in the video player above. “And he made 41 percent of them as a fifth-year player at Tennessee after transferring from North Florida. Lanier was recognized as the nation’s best shooting guard, and has been compared to Malik Beasley. He moves well without the ball and thrives in the catch-and-shoot.
“If he wants to be more than a bench player, Lanier’s defense will need some work. He’s projected as a second-round pick. So if the Celtics like the pre-draft workout he had with them, he could be an option on Day 2.”
With two winning seasons and one playoff appearance between 1994 and 2013, the Golden State Warriors were locked in the NBA’s junkyard. Incumbent stars wanted out. Available free agents routinely ignored their overtures unless the contract offer included hazard pay. Cool region in which to live, yes, but a profoundly dysfunctional organization.
When Joe Lacob and Peter Guber assembled a group to rescue the franchise from the misguidance of besieged owner Chris Cohan in 2010, they understood the mission. Introduced to crooner Michael Bublé singing the Nina Simone song, ‘Feeling Good (It’s a New Day),” they committed to a dramatic makeover.
New ownership inherited burgeoning superstar Stephen Curry and then raised the franchise’s profile by recruiting individuals such as Jerry West, Mark Jackson and Rick Welts, men of prominence within the NBA. The New Warriors were aiming high and hitting targets.
After posting back-to-back playoff seasons (2012-13 and 2013-14) for the first time since 1994, the Warriors were methodically shedding their image as inept and irrelevant. They were gaining credibility, and their next quest was for competitive and financial prosperity.
Three days after losing a grueling 2014 first-round series to the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games, Golden State dismissed Jackson as head coach. A little more than a week later, Steve Kerr was the new head coach. The move invited skepticism, as much of the roster supported Jackson and was wary of changes likely to come with another first-time head coach.
Winning the 2015 NBA Finals in six games over the Cleveland Cavaliers gave the Warriors their first championship in 40 years and the biggest throne in the room reserved for the league’s elite. The series was clinched on June 16, 2015, with Kerr becoming the third rookie coach to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary, NBC Sports Bay Area reached out to some of the participants willing to share their memories of that remarkable journey. This is an oral history of the season that dropped the first pillar of what became a dynasty that has made the Warriors the most valuable team in the NBA:
TRAINING CAMP
Kerr brought a staff of veteran assistants, with Alvin Gentry focusing on offense and Ron Adams fine-tuning the defense. After a developmental camp, the Warriors coalesced and set their sights toward a lofty goal.
Shaun Livingston (first season with the Warriors): “You had a group of guys that had been together in this war, this battle going back and forth with, at the time, the Clippers. They were kind of like the top team of the West. OKC, they were fighting for position, fighting for the respect, but they had some continuity; they’d been together a couple years, been in some playoffs. And we had this changing of leadership from the coaching standpoint. You had the newness of Steve Kerr and his staff. Alvin Gentry, kind of the senior associate coach with experience. Steve Kerr’s first time as a coach. It’s an unknown. But then you had this known. Steph is coming. Klay (Thompson) is coming. You had David Lee, former All-Star. Andre Iguodala, former All-Star. Andrew Bogut. You had some veterans mixed with this kind of gasoline, this flame of Steph and Klay, the star power that was rising.”
Adams: “I had analyzed the team coming in here, which I thought they had a lot of potential. Our shortest player was Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa is a big guy. He’s a healthy 6-3. He’s strong. He’s long. That’s the shortest guy we have on our team. So, for a guy who loves length and athleticism and all that, we had an interesting team before the first day of practice. We had this nice roster of length and good athleticism, and on top of all of that, good intelligence. A very smart team.”
Kerr: “It was total chaos. I was really trying to push the idea of tempo and ball movement, player movement. And the players, the first few days, were trying to do that. But as is usually the case in camp, it’s a little wild, even for veteran teams. The first couple of days are a little wild because everyone’s rusty. But because I was a first-year coach and I was trying to implement a lot of this stuff, I was terrified because it was awful. The ball was flying all over the gym.”
Bogut (fourth season as a Warrior): “Steve was probably the hardest on Steph, because Steph plays so free and loose. Which is why he’s so good. But at times, he would turn the ball over. He would tell him, ‘Hey, you’re our guy. We can’t afford having you throwing over-the-head passes that get deflected for transition layups.’ And I remember numerous times Steve would stop practice and get into Steph in front of the group, which, Steph responded to very well.”
CRUCIAL MOVES
Kerr made two significant lineup changes. First, he persuaded starting small forward Iguodala to accept the role of Sixth Man, with Harrison Barnes sliding into the starting lineup.
When Lee sustained a hamstring injury in the preseason finale, Kerr turned to Draymond Green as his replacement. With the Warriors winning their first five games and 21 of their first 23, the changes became permanent.
Livingston: “Andre has started every game of his career before that season. That’s 10 years in the league of starting, and then you ask him to come off the bench? That’s a big domino, right? He’s been an All-Star. He’s a highly sought-after free agent. To come in and put your ego to the side, understanding this could, this could shift your career, that’s a big buy-in. From there, you saw Draymond Green was kind of coming into his own and taking that starter slot. The way that we took off, and the way that we all responded to that move. That slot was David Lee’s, who was a former All-Star. Having buy-in from that standpoint matters. Winning helps, right? Because if we don’t have those wins, maybe it turns out different.”
Kerr: “It wasn’t seamless with Andre. He accepted it. I wouldn’t say he embraced it, but he understood. I told him my vision was that he was sort of like (Manu) Ginobili, who came off the bench, even though he was the second-best player on the Spurs. And I think Andre was at the point of his career where he understood that, and he didn’t worry too much about starting. He wanted to win, but he wasn’t sure it was going to work. It took a couple of months. But once it started to click, it was pretty powerful. Yeah. I mean, when you’re winning like that, the results kind of speak for themselves, and I guess any skepticism kind of fades away.”
(The swap at power forward lifted Golden State’s defense from good to the best in the NBA.)
Bogut: “The thing about Draymond is he observes everything, and he listens. When he’s learning something new, he takes it in. You tell him once he’s got it, and then he’ll watch and learn from that. Our chemistry is not something that we practiced. It was just automatic. He had a great feel for the game, spatial awareness, rotation awareness. If I was out of position or messed up something, he’d have my back, and vice versa.”
Festus Ezeli (third season): “I loved watching the way that they covered for each other, like the IQ, the combined IQ of both is unmatched, and to see them on the floor working was special. Draymond blocking shots, Bogut blocking shots. Draymond is getting out in the passing lanes, getting steals, talking to people, telling them where to go and switching. I’m watching Bogut, this big guy in the middle, blocking shots. I tried to emulate that.”
THE SEASON
The 2014-15 Warriors finished 67-15, the best record in the NBA and the best in franchise history. Curry earned his first MVP award. Thompson joined him in the backcourt as All-Star Game starters.
Livingston: “Just watching this team, the way that they had chemistry, the way there was connectivity, even with the new coaching staff, they already knew what they were capable of. They were already on string. They had a feel for each other. We started probably 10-1 (21-2), and I might be playing 10 minutes a game. I’m like, ‘Damn, do they need me?’ And I’m coming off a season where, where I was starting and had a bigger role. I was observing once I got there.”
Kerr:” It’s not like I didn’t know I was taking over a good team. They had won like 50 games two years in a row (47 and 51) and been in the playoffs. And we knew we were already good. It was just a matter of, could we take the next step and continue the growth that they had already been on. And I think at that point, when we were 21-2, it felt like the identity of the team offensively was forming. And that was really my main goal. When we started, we didn’t change the defense much at all. Mark had really changed the identity of the team, the personnel moves, getting Bogut. Everything was really in place on the defensive end. So, we were really focused on the offensive evolution, just trying to incorporate more ball movement and play through our bigs a little bit more because Bogues and David Lee and Draymond were all such good passers.”
Ezeli: “I remember really enjoying our style of play. Because the year before, we went from this “iso” style of basketball, which was working because we got Steph Curry on the team. With that dude, you just put the ball in his hands. Now, it was like everybody touches the ball. Iguodala throwing lobs to me. Draymond moving the ball to Klay. It was so smooth, the starting rotation, the bench rotations, all those things together were incredible.”
Kerr: “I remember at that stage just thinking, ‘All right, this thing starting to take shape.’ We were tracking the number of passes per game. We were writing it on the board after every game. The next morning we’d come in and watch film, and we write on the board how many passes we had made. And we’re trying to be up over 300. I remember one day we forgot to write it on the board. As soon as we sat down, Steph was like, ‘How many passes last night?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, you guys were actually paying attention to that.’ And so that’s kind of when I realized they understood the power of ball movement and the flow that we were searching for. And it became apparent we were one of the best teams in the league.”
THE JOY OF BROTHERHOOD
On the road to a champagne celebration, there was plenty of singing and dancing and joking and group dinners that forged a unique bond.
Adams: “The most exciting thing about the team at that point in the season, starting with training camp, was how much fun they were having together. Steve is a devotee of (football coach) Pete Carroll and Pete is a marvelous guy, wonderful coach, but his style is one of not thinking too much about the past but thinking about the future and understanding that. The one abiding concept in sport, where I can’t say that I always did as a young coach,h is that it’s got to be fun. Everyone started playing the game because it was fun, right? And Steve really did a good job of capturing this early on.”
Livingston: “We’re tight off the court, making those videos, the bus rides, clowning each other, the group chats, all those things. The team dinners, especially. That’s when we started doing team dinners on the road nightly. And you’re seeing guys that can’t wait to get to the dinners, because we want to be around each other. And that’s uncommon, especially because we spend so much time together.”
Bogut: “Good chemistry is understanding the differences among us. Some people have family life. Some are single and ready to mingle. Some are out in the streets. Some like to play Xbox or PlayStation. Some guys politically are here and some are over there. Harrison and I used to disagree in a lot of things, but we had open debate, discussion, not to a point where we hate each other. It would just be civil, adult discussions, which is what we need in the world today. And most of the squad was like that. We understood that everyone’s different, but on the court, we’re together, and we enjoyed the time together. We spent a lot of time on the road together, restaurants and whatnot. It was a beautiful, beautiful group to be a part of.
“And It was nothing that was coach-driven or management-driven. Most trips there would be about eight or nine or 10 guys coming to dinner. We already kind of had a good group that enjoyed being around each other, had a good laugh, that bulls–t, that goofed off. And I think that’s important. A lot of teams, 85-90 percent of teams, don’t have that. We had that, and it just was special. And I think that actually helped the winning more than the winning part of that process, if that makes sense.”
Ezeli: “At some point, maybe halfway through the season, Leandro Barbosa says, ‘We gonna be championship.’ And we’re looking like, ‘Yo, you can’t say that. You’re going to jinx us.’ But he felt it so strongly, like he had been on some talented teams, he felt it so strongly in the way that we were as a team, like we could play. But then we had this ability to also bounce back from bad times. And we were together. We were eating together. We’re hanging out together, going out together, like everything we always wanted to do together.”
Kerr: “There was just a great vibe with the group, and that was just the quality of the type of people that we had on the roster. Obviously, Steph embodies that. But the new guys, Shaun Livingston and LB were great. LB was just pure joy every day. And I think Andre’s willingness to take a step back early in the season and come off the bench helped in that regard too. Everyone saw the sacrifice that he made. There was an incredible sort of energy that emanated from the group.”
Livingston: “Guys get hired and fired based on results. So, the winning obviously helped. But for me, personally, it took me back to high school. It gave me that feeling of joy again about playing the game.”
ORACLE (or ROARACLE)
The Warriors lost two home games all season, to the Spurs on Nov. 11 and to the Bulls on Jan. 27 in overtime. They finished with a franchise-record 39-2 mark at Oracle Arena. The league’s most decisive home-court advantage was created.
Kerr: “It sounds trite, but we had a great team, a great crowd and a great venue. It was electric in that place. One coach told me that when the introductions would come on, and the Tupac song would come on, ‘California Love,’ and they’re introducing the players, he said, ‘We’re watching that. And we’re just thinking, Man, I hope we don’t lose by 40.’ “
Ezeli: “It was so loud in there we could barely hear ourselves. You’re yelling, ‘Steph screen, right, right,’ and he can’t hear me. So, you just got to play off feel. For us, it became normal. But I think for other teams coming in here, it’s probably jarring. It’s that extra battery that we had in our packs.”
Livingston: “The building just feels like it’s shaking. It feels like it’s moving in there. It’s so loud, and just the amount of fuel that it gave us when we went on a run. There’s a vibe, there’s an energy to the game. And you just kind of see the body language of your opponents would let out. Those shoulders start to slump, heads start to dip, guys start kind of going back and forth, bickering at each other. Coaches calling timeouts back-to-back. And then the crowd, they’re just pouring gasoline on that thing. It’s just, you know, it’s insane in there.”
Bogut: “Just watching the playoff atmosphere of the playoffs this year in San Francisco compared to Oakland, you can’t compare the two. I understand it’s big business and all that, but I think the spirits were working with the Warriors. It was a real special place. The fans there were just great, so I have real good memories of that place. It was an awesome place to play basketball.”
FIRST ROUND VS. PELICANS
Having earned the No. 1 overall seed, rallying behind the slogan “Strength in Numbers,” the Warriors swept New Orleans in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, toppled Memphis in six games in the conference semifinals, beat Houston and five in the conference finals and, in the NBA Finals, took down LeBron James and Cleveland in six.
Kerr: “Even though we handled New Orleans, it wasn’t easy. We had to come back from 20 down in the fourth quarter in Game 3, and then I think Game 4 went down to the wire. (Pelicans late comeback fell short.) I felt like, in some ways, we were kind of where OKC is right now: Dominant regular season, but you got to prove it now.”
Bogut: “The Pelicans didn’t really pose that much of a threat. They were better than the seed they were, and they played good basketball, but they didn’t have enough and weren’t deep enough to really mess with us. We started to realize how valuable our bench was. Mo Speights, Barbosa, Livingston, they came in and impacted a lot of games. They changed games sometimes. They’d come in with a two-point lead and Mo Speights, ‘Mo Buckets,’ would hit five straight jumpers and we’re up 15.”
Ezeli: “Our bench was just so dynamic. We had Marreese Speights. We had offense. We had defense. Shaun Livingston was like a cheat code; when you put the ball his hands and he’s on the block, that ball is going in the basket. And this is somebody who was coming in for Steph Curry, who is putting the ball in the basket from the 3-point line. We had different styles that we could play.”
9 years ago today…
Steph Curry hits the TOUGH corner 3 to send Game 3 against the Pelicans to OT 🔥
Livingston: “We were bleeding. And the series being down after being the favorites to win, being in a vulnerable position, with Steph, taking shots because of being the MVP and feeling like you have to come through. You’re not playing the way you want to play. We’re all not playing the way we want to play. And you start to hear all the noise, all the shots coming at you.”
Kerr: “Every team that eventually breaks through, you have to have that moment of truth, moment of reckoning, whatever you want to call it. And that’s what we had when they beat us up in Game 3 (a 10-point loss). Everybody was calling us soft and tweeting about us and saying, jump-shooting teams don’t win all that stuff. Unless you’re getting blown out the first couple games, you generally wait to make your big adjustment until at least Game 3, maybe Game 4. And we were maybe a game late in our adjustment to put Bogut on Tony Allen. Ron Adams had suggested it on the flight to Memphis when it was 1-1. But we agreed it was pretty extreme. And then we got blown out. It’s like, ‘Oh s–t, we better do that.’ “
Bogut: “I just let Allen shoot the ball, really, and that’s not his thing. That basically screwed up their spacing, because they had four bodies already running around paint with the Gasol and Randolph, whoever’s guarding them. And then you’ve got me running around not guarding anyone. That just completely screwed up their offense, and they just couldn’t find a rhythm. What that did, and what people don’t realize, is it got Tony out of their lineup. He says he had a hamstring injury. I think he was going to be out of lineup anyway because their offense was so bad.”
Adams: “I think it kind of disoriented Memphis a bit.”
Kerr: “It was, it was the game. It was the seminal moment of that championship season.”
Adams: “It was the biggest game of that sequence of playoff games. It was at the time, and as I look back on it. And it still is, in its own way, a pivotal moment in the success of our team that year in the playoffs. I always think back: What if we had not won that game? What would have been our route, our destiny as a team? What would it have been?”
Stephen Curry closed out the WCSF series with 32 points against the Grizzlies! (2015)
Bogut: “The Houston series didn’t really pose that much of a threat.”
Kerr: “I remember Game 2, where Harden had the ball in his hands down one with like five seconds left, and it just felt like, oh s–t. And then [Steph] and Klay (tied him up). To go up 2-0 was huge. And then we steamrolled them in Game 3. The series actually didn’t feel close. Even though Game 2 was close, it felt like we were in control.”
Adams: “You keep putting this, for lack of a better term, this ‘confidence coin’ in the bank. Each game that we were extracting from these wins, you keep putting it in the confidence bank. That process served us well leading into the championship round. In that we’re a confident team, we kind of knew at that point we could do it.”
When the Warriors, now the betting favorite, lost two of the first three games, they were facing the same challenge they had conquered to oust the Grizzlies. Kerr made another Game 4 adjustment. Following the suggestion of staffer Nick U’Ren, the coach called on Iguodala to replace Bogut in the starting lineup – and be the primary defender on James – with Green sliding over to center. The “Death Lineup” was born.
Kerr: “That’s the whole point of a seven-game series. You have time to adjust. You look at it, you study it, you make your adjustment, and you hope that it works. And in both cases, the adjustments really worked. Putting Bogut on Tony Allen, and then in the Finals, starting Andre for Bogut and going small.”
Ezeli: “I just remember Andre Iguodala before our team meeting for Game 6. Andre’s like, ‘Yo, guys, I don’t have anything else in me, so this is the last game. I’m giving y’all everything I have after this. I’m done all right.’ He was talking about how LeBron just keeps coming.”
Bogut: “We reeled off three in a row to win it. I think just the grind of a series, and knowing that we’re always in it, we learned we’re never out. That you’ve got to knock us out, that we’re not going to fail by ourselves.”
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Ezeli: “Winning a championship in Cleveland is the worst thing ever, because there’s nowhere to celebrate. And the first thing that you do when the buzzer goes off, is you’re looking around trying to find somebody to hug. And people don’t realize we did this thing. And that’s why you don’t do this journey alone. They say if you want to go far, you go together. And to be able to do that with my brothers is still a special memory that I have in my heart. It never goes away. And forever, wherever I see them, anywhere around the world, even when we’re 70 years old, we always have those special memories. Those are my brothers.”
Adams: “We tore up that locker room. There’s nothing better than winning on the road. Well, actually it’s better for your fans to win at home if you’re going to win a championship. But it’s pretty sweet winning on the road. The celebration was immense, the guys going crazy and all that camaraderie that achieving something great brings with it. All of that is special. It is such an exhilarating feeling.”
Livingston: “It was just … it was insane. And then getting back to the Bay, you know, seeing the, just the outpouring of our fans, and all they went through, the 40 years without a championship. It was special, man.”
Adams: “It’s the pinnacle. So, when it happens, it has great meaning for anyone involved in it, whoever’s on the team, whatever their association to the team might be. So that will always be really special. And the first one, of course, is the most special, I think.”
Bogut: “Definitely the most special moment of my career. When you win a championship going through, individually, for me, going from a team Milwaukee that you thought never really had a real chance to win a championship; playoffs was kind of our gold medal. Going to Golden State, when I first arrived, was not in a great spot, not a lot of success. Then tasting a little bit of success, but knowing there was a still a bit more that we can get out of this group, then coming in and getting it. Yeah.”
Kerr: “It was honestly the most gratifying moment of my professional life. Just to do that, to win the title in our first year, to see the joy in the locker room and to see that how happy everybody and their families were. Then we go over to Morton’s (prime steakhouse) and have the celebration. All the owners, the happiest group of people on earth at that moment.
“That’s an amazing, amazing liftoff. Yeah, the first of five straight runs to the Finals. Man, I don’t know if we’ll see that again anytime soon.”
The trade came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t the first time that a trade has shocked fans. Just months ago, the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for Luka Doncic took over the NBA world. It’s not a one for one comparison, but baseball now has it’s own version.
With that in mind, here are 10 of the most surprising trades in MLB history:
Red Sox trade Babe Ruth to Yankees, 1919
Red Sox receive: $100,000
Yankees receive: Babe Ruth
It’s been more than 100 years, but the Babe Ruth trade remains a seminal moment in baseball lore. It sparked the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry and the Curse of the Bambino, an 86-year World Series drought for Boston.
Red Sox trade Mookie Betts to Dodgers, 2020
Red Sox receive: Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, Connor Wong
Dodgers receive: Mookie Betts, David Price
Nearly 100 years later, the Red Sox once again traded their World Series-winning star — this time to Hollywood. Mookie Betts has already added two more rings to his fingers in Los Angeles, and none of the three returning players made an impact in Boston (only Connor Wong remains as a backup catcher).
Rangers trade Alex Rodriguez to Yankees, 2004
Rangers receive: Alfonso Soriano, Joaquín Arias
Yankees receive: Alex Rodriguez
The Red Sox had a deal for Alex Rodriguez … until they didn’t. The MLB Players Association vetoed the deal, and the Yankees swooped in months later to steal the star away — only after their third baseman (and future manager) Aaron Boone got injured in a pickup basketball game.
Mariners trade Ken Griffey Jr. to Reds, 2000
Mariners receive: Brett Tomko, Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez, Jake Meyer
Reds receive: Ken Griffey Jr.
Over 11 seasons in Seattle, Griffey was one of baseball’s brightest stars. But he quietly wanted to return home to Cincinnati, and his wish was granted in a February deal. Griffey never reached the same heights after the trade, though, and the Mariners won an MLB record-tying 116 games in 2001.
Red Sox trade Rafael Devers to Giants, 2025
Red Sox receive: Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs III, Jose Bello
Giants receive: Rafael Devers
The wound has just opened, but the return package for Devers appears underwhelming. The Red Sox, hours after sweeping the first-place Yankees, traded away another franchise cornerstone over disagreements between him and management over his position.
Dodgers trade Mike Piazza to Marlins, 1998
Dodgers receive: Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Manuel Barrios, Jim Eisenreich
Marlins receive: Mike Piazza, Todd Zeile
When the Dodgers refused to give Mike Piazza a new contract, they waited a few months before sending him to the Marlins. Seven days later, the Marlins shipped Piazza to the New York Mets in a truly weird sequence of events — all in the name of cost-cutting, as most MLB trades are.
Marlins trade Miguel Cabrera to Tigers, 2007
Marlins receive: Andrew Miller, Dallas Trahern, Eulogio De La Cruz, Burke Badenhop, Cameron Maybin, Mike Rabelo
Tigers receive: Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis
Speaking of cost-cutting, here’s another Marlins example. Cabrera was in his mid-20s and only scratching the surface of his prime when Florida traded him to Detroit. While they received a number of players in return, the Marlins saw Cabrera become a Tigers icon with two MVPs and nearly 400 home runs over 16 seasons.
Mets trade Tom Seaver to Reds, 1977
Mets receive: Pat Zachry, Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn, Dan Norman
Reds receive: Tom Seaver
Known as the “Midnight Massacre,” Tom Seaver was dealt to the Reds in a shocking move by the Mets. Seaver and the Mets had not been seeing eye to eye, so team chairman Donald Grant shipped their three-time Cy Young winner out of town.
Cleveland trades CC Sabathia to Brewers, 2008
Cleveland receives: Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, Michael Brantley
Brewers receive: CC Sabathia
With CC Sabathia just months away from free agency, Cleveland sent its homegrown star pitcher to … Milwaukee? It was a rare all-in move for the small market franchise, but he delivered the Brewers a playoff appearance for the first time since 1982 before signing with the Yankees that winter.
Cubs receive: Nomar Garciaparra (from Red Sox), Matt Murton (from Red Sox)
Expos receive: Brendan Harris (from Cubs), Alex Gonzalez (from Cubs), Francis Beltran (from Cubs)
Twins receive: Justin Jones (from Cubs)
Another Red Sox trade, why not? This one actually worked out for Boston, as much as it stung to trade away franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra mid-season. Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz were key contributors as the Red Sox finally reversed the curse to win the 2004 World Series, while Garciaparra was past his prime.
The trade came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t the first time that a trade has shocked fans. Just months ago, the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for Luka Doncic took over the NBA world. It’s not a one for one comparison, but baseball now has it’s own version.
With that in mind, here are 10 of the most surprising trades in MLB history:
Red Sox trade Babe Ruth to Yankees, 1919
Red Sox receive: $100,000
Yankees receive: Babe Ruth
It’s been more than 100 years, but the Babe Ruth trade remains a seminal moment in baseball lore. It sparked the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry and the Curse of the Bambino, an 86-year World Series drought for Boston.
Red Sox trade Mookie Betts to Dodgers, 2020
Red Sox receive: Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, Connor Wong
Dodgers receive: Mookie Betts, David Price
Nearly 100 years later, the Red Sox once again traded their World Series-winning star — this time to Hollywood. Mookie Betts has already added two more rings to his fingers in Los Angeles, and none of the three returning players made an impact in Boston (only Connor Wong remains as a backup catcher).
Rangers trade Alex Rodriguez to Yankees, 2004
Rangers receive: Alfonso Soriano, Joaquín Arias
Yankees receive: Alex Rodriguez
The Red Sox had a deal for Alex Rodriguez … until they didn’t. The MLB Players Association vetoed the deal, and the Yankees swooped in months later to steal the star away — only after their third baseman (and future manager) Aaron Boone got injured in a pickup basketball game.
Mariners trade Ken Griffey Jr. to Reds, 2000
Mariners receive: Brett Tomko, Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez, Jake Meyer
Reds receive: Ken Griffey Jr.
Over 11 seasons in Seattle, Griffey was one of baseball’s brightest stars. But he quietly wanted to return home to Cincinnati, and his wish was granted in a February deal. Griffey never reached the same heights after the trade, though, and the Mariners won an MLB record-tying 116 games in 2001.
Red Sox trade Rafael Devers to Giants, 2025
Red Sox receive: Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs III, Jose Bello
Giants receive: Rafael Devers
The wound has just opened, but the return package for Devers appears underwhelming. The Red Sox, hours after sweeping the first-place Yankees, traded away another franchise cornerstone over disagreements between him and management over his position.
Dodgers trade Mike Piazza to Marlins, 1998
Dodgers receive: Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Manuel Barrios, Jim Eisenreich
Marlins receive: Mike Piazza, Todd Zeile
When the Dodgers refused to give Mike Piazza a new contract, they waited a few months before sending him to the Marlins. Seven days later, the Marlins shipped Piazza to the New York Mets in a truly weird sequence of events — all in the name of cost-cutting, as most MLB trades are.
Marlins trade Miguel Cabrera to Tigers, 2007
Marlins receive: Andrew Miller, Dallas Trahern, Eulogio De La Cruz, Burke Badenhop, Cameron Maybin, Mike Rabelo
Tigers receive: Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis
Speaking of cost-cutting, here’s another Marlins example. Cabrera was in his mid-20s and only scratching the surface of his prime when Florida traded him to Detroit. While they received a number of players in return, the Marlins saw Cabrera become a Tigers icon with two MVPs and nearly 400 home runs over 16 seasons.
Mets trade Tom Seaver to Reds, 1977
Mets receive: Pat Zachry, Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn, Dan Norman
Reds receive: Tom Seaver
Known as the “Midnight Massacre,” Tom Seaver was dealt to the Reds in a shocking move by the Mets. Seaver and the Mets had not been seeing eye to eye, so team chairman Donald Grant shipped their three-time Cy Young winner out of town.
Cleveland trades CC Sabathia to Brewers, 2008
Cleveland receives: Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, Michael Brantley
Brewers receive: CC Sabathia
With CC Sabathia just months away from free agency, Cleveland sent its homegrown star pitcher to … Milwaukee? It was a rare all-in move for the small market franchise, but he delivered the Brewers a playoff appearance for the first time since 1982 before signing with the Yankees that winter.
Cubs receive: Nomar Garciaparra (from Red Sox), Matt Murton (from Red Sox)
Expos receive: Brendan Harris (from Cubs), Alex Gonzalez (from Cubs), Francis Beltran (from Cubs)
Twins receive: Justin Jones (from Cubs)
Another Red Sox trade, why not? This one actually worked out for Boston, as much as it stung to trade away franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra mid-season. Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz were key contributors as the Red Sox finally reversed the curse to win the 2004 World Series, while Garciaparra was past his prime.
After numerous failed pursuits over the years, the Giants finally were able to land a superstar hitter.
San Francisco, by acquiring slugging infielder/designated hitter Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, added the caliber of player they long have sought in free agency, only for big names like Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani to sign elsewhere in recent years.
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey, the man who pulled off the seismic trade, joined KNBR 680’s “Murph & Markus” on Monday morning and was asked if the trade for Devers was motivated by San Francisco’s struggles to recruit free-agent hitters.
“Yeah, it’s been tough to get free-agent hitters here,” Posey said. “No doubt. So that was part of the thought in this, and again, it’s a credit to our ownership group as far as seizing an opportunity to bring a big bat in and make such a commitment.
“I guess you never know. Long-term, the hope still is that we draft well, we develop great hitters. I still believe that’s the recipe for success. But when you have foundational pieces like we do right now as far as Devers and [Jung Hoo] Lee and [Matt] Chapman and [Willy] Adames and [Heliot] Ramos is coming on strong, you feel like you’re in a good position. Now it’s up to us as a group to get some of those homegrown players up here and continue to put great players out.”
Similarly to adding a superstar hitter in free agency, the Giants now are on the hook for an eye-popping contract, with Devers set to make roughly $250 million over the next eight-plus seasons after the 28-year-old originally signed a 10-year, $313.5 million extension with Boston in Jan. 2023.
However, the three-time MLB All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger could be worth every penny.
Devers has a career .850 OPS, and in 73 games with Boston this season, batted .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs, 58 RBI and 56 walks in 334 plate appearances.
He now joins a Giants’ lineup that, despite significant moves for Adames, Chapman and Lee over the last two offseasons, still has felt one big bat short at times.
Shohei Ohtani throws in the Dodger Stadium outfield before a game against the New York Mets on June 4. Ohtani will make his pitching debut for the Dodgers on Monday against the Padres. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
On the field, he’s produced the first 50-50 season in baseball history and won a World Series. Off it, he’s sold everything from unsweetened green tea to skin-care products.
As it was, it felt as if Shohei Ohtani was everywhere. In reality, this was just half of the package.
The Dodgers are finally about to have the complete version of Ohtani, the right-handed pitcher with a 100-mph fastball who also launches 470-foot homers as a left-handed hitter.
Two-Way Shohei is back.
Ohtani will pitch his first game for the Dodgers on Monday, the team naming him as its starter for the opening game of a four-game series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
What was already a one-of-a-kind show will evolve into something that might never be seen again after Ohtani retires — not at Dodger Stadium, not at any other major league stadium, not anywhere in the world.
The news of Ohtani’s mound return became a source of anticipation in the Dodgers’ clubhouse, with Clayton Kershaw describing himself as “super excited.”
“I think we all are,” Kershaw said. “I think as fans of the game and just seeing him day in and day out get ready to pitch and do both, it’s going to be really fun, whether it’s one inning or whatever it is.”
The Dodgers plan to deploy Ohtani for an inning or two as an opener.
For most of this season, the Dodgers operated under the assumption that Ohtani wouldn’t pitch until after the All-Star break. The change of plans doesn’t represent a speeding up of a timeline as much as it does a modification of the route that will be taken to a final destination.
Ohtani last pitched in 2023 when he was still playing for the Angels, and he didn’t pitch in his first season for the Dodgers last year as he recovered from his second Tommy John surgery.
Shohei Ohtani pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium on June 4. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In recent weeks, he prepared for his mound return by pitching to hitters in live batting practice. He threw 44 pitches in three innings in his third and most recent session.
However, throwing live batting practice and taking four or five at-bats in an actual game as a designated hitter was like “playing a doubleheader for him,” Roberts said.
To eliminate the exhausting cycle of warming up to throw, cooling down after, and warming up again to play a game, the Dodgers figured they could build up Ohtani’s arm in games. Whatever modest Ohtani’s contributions can make from the mound, the Dodgers will take them. With multiple starters on the injured list, the bullpen has shouldered a disproportionate share of the pitching load.
Because Ohtani wouldn’t take up an extra roster spot, Kershaw pointed out, “We don’t have to lose a pitcher or anything, so if he throws an inning a week, it’s great.”
Ohtani will likely pitch about once a week, with every start expected to be about an inning longer than the previous one. Theoretically, he could pitch four times before the All-Star break, which would stretch him out to be ready to pitch five innings when the Dodgers resume play.
While Ohtani remains in a ramp-up phase and his fastball has sat in the 94-95 mph range in his live bullpen sessions, still not at the 98-99 mph he once averaged. However, team officials believe he is ready to compete at the major league level because of the movement of his pitches.
Ohtani evidently thinks so as well.
“I think I’m approaching a level that is sufficient to pitch in games,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Saturday night.
His 25 homers are the most in the National League. He is also batting .297 with 41 runs batted in. The Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, he’s also stolen 11 bases.
Ohtani said didn’t think his offensive production would be diminished by pitching.
“I played as just a DH last year,” he said, “but to do both at the same time is my usual style.”
Ohtani played six seasons with the Angels, and he was a two-way player in four of them. His last three seasons with them made up what was arguably the greatest three-year stretch in the history of the sport, as he won two MVP awards and would have won a third if not for a 62-home season by Aaron Judge.
He has an opportunity now to match, or even surpass, that. Only this time, he will do so on a team that has a chance to reward him for his unprecedented achievements with the postseason glory he craves.
The Orlando Magic ignited a potentially wild offseason by acquiring Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday in exchange for a package highlighted by four unprotected first-round picks and a future first-round pick swap.
What does it mean for the Boston Celtics?
Let’s examine the Bane trade through a Boston lens:
1. The East is wide open
The Magic, bounced in Round 1 of the 2025 playoffs by the Celtics, are splurging big with the belief that Bane is the piece that can rocket them to contention in what feels like an extremely wide-open Eastern Conference.
The Magic were a feisty first-round opponent with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner showing all the signs of blossoming stars. Orlando offloaded Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony — two players that failed to have a positive impact on the Boston series — while bringing back a player who can provide the sort of two-way impact the Magic desperately craved, particularly with his shooting talents.
If healthy, the Magic feel like the sort of team that will push hard during the 2025-26 regular season, trying to show they have truly arrived. Orlando should almost certainly push into the top half of the East playoff bracket next season.
Yes, Orlando gave up a haul of picks, but the Magic are banking that they will be one of the eight best teams in basketball over the duration of those picks. They are pushing all in at a time when it feels like they have a real chance to be in the mix and they’ll see where this young trio can take them.
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was largely ineffective in Round 1 vs. the Celtics.
2. A high price tag on talent
While we all wait to see which pieces the Celtics are forced to ship out in order to get below the second apron, it feels like the price tags just shot skyward if teams were to even inquire about players like Jaylen Brown or Derrick White.
Bane is an amazing young player. He’s technically a former Celtics draft pick selected for Memphis after the Celtics utilized the No. 30 pick in the 2020 draft to offload Enes Kanter to the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team swap. But he doesn’t have the resume of a Brown or a White. So, even at slightly older ages, those players would seemingly require an even greater haul to be moved.
Teams would have to overwhelm Boston with some combination of young talent and future draft assets to even consider moving core pieces of the 2024 title team. And, before the offseason really starts, they have a deal that emphasizes how valuable two-way players are to contenders.
3. Teams looking for that one piece
Set against the backdrop of a Thunder-Pacers matchup in the NBA Finals, there are no shortage of teams that should feel like they are maybe one piece away from being a legitimate contender. All of which could help ensure Boston gets maximum return on any piece it has to move out this offseason.
There’s been speculation about whether the Celtics would have to attach draft capital to move off the contract of Jrue Holiday. Given his age, and with over $100 million in money remaining over three seasons, that might be true. But if there are teams out there that view Holiday as the final piece of their own puzzle, then Boston can try to limit what they need to attach in any deal. Similarly, how much would a contending team that needs shooting splurge to add a Sam Hauser to their rotation given his rather thrifty price tag that fits into a team’s non taxpayer midlevel exception?
If the Celtics must make painful choices to move off talent this summer, then they need to maximize the return in a high-demand marketplace.
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Jrue Holiday has three years left on his contract.
4. The East gets younger
For the better part of the past decade, we’ve focused on Boston’s older rivals. The Heat, the Sixers, the Bucks. But the road blocks for where Boston yearns to get back to, once Jayson Tatum is healthy again, are the cluster of young teams thriving behind a new wave of stars.
The Pacers, the Pistons, and the Magic are the teams to worry about now. Indiana has proven itself with consecutive deep playoff runs. The Pistons still have the ability to take a huge swing if they want to add alongside Cade Cunningham. The Magic now have three dynamic scorers aged 26 and younger.
The Cavaliers are young-ish, but have some tough decisions this offseason about what pieces of their core to carry forward. The Knicks have to figure out a coach and whether they’re going to stick with their own core after a run to the East finals. The future of Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee remains uncertain. The Sixers haven’t been healthy for a decade. The Heat are just toiling away in Play-In-Ville.
It all adds another wrinkle as Brad Stevens ponders Boston’s next steps. Do the Celtics try to maintain as much of this core as possible and stiff arm these up-and-coming teams? Or do they try to get younger, knowing that’s where the East is moving?
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