Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws a pitch in the second inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. The Phillies led 3-0 after three innings. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
I do believe that Zack Wheeler pitched that game with a decent sized chip on his shoulder. Actually, multiple chips on his shoulder – one from not being selected to the All-Star Game and one for Don Mattingly taking him out early from a game he wanted to stay in.
With the NBA trade market booming with multiple trades occurring, it’s natural to wonder whether the Rockets would trade any of their young core. Well, it seems we got the answer, as in a Kelly Iko article released in late June, Iko was quoted saying: “Rival teams that have contacted the Rockets recently have been informed that 23-year-old Amen Thompson is the only near untouchable on the roster,” Iko wrote. Houston isn’t actively shopping its All-Stars or other key members, sources said, but is merely expressing more of a willingness to listen than at previous junctures. We already heard that the team has no reservations about shopping Kevin Durant.
This adjustment follows a season in which Houston’s potential was put to the test due to injuries and the constraints of an incomplete squad. The Rockets won 52 games after adding Durant in July of last year, but season-ending injuries to Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams weakened the foundation that had enabled them to control pace and possessions.
Following Iko’s article, a tweet appeared on many people’s timelines, Tim MacMahon of the Hoop Collective Podcast stating
“As high as you think they might be on Amen Thompson, they’re higher. I literally dont know that they’d trade him for anyone but Wemby…”
"As high as you think they might be on Amen Thompson, they're higher. I literally dont know that they'd trade him for anyone but Wemby…" – Tim MacMahon[@BannedMacMahon] on #Rockets Amen Thompson via The Hoop Collective Podcast
Now, to some people, this may seem like a wild statement, but to be honest, in a way, it makes sense. It’s almost natural to gas up your own players if you’re a team’s front office to try and get the most you can for your player. Additonally, while the verdict is still out on Sengun, many feel Thompson is the last chance the Rockets have at getting a homegrown superstar from the draft since Jalen Green did not reach expectations before being traded, and Jabari Smith Jr. is likely just a high-end role player. If anything I agree with the statement to a point however, I personally would maybe include a few more players on the list of players I would trade Amen Thompson for, such as Nikola Jokic (yes, the fit would potentially not work because of Sengun, and you would have two centers, but let me cook), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and potentially Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson.
Now here is where the fun begins, now that I have given my opinion on who I would trade Amen Thompson for, I want you, the reader, to list your lists of players you would trade Amen Thompson for. It can be a large list, a small list, or you can straight-up say you don’t want to trade him at all. Bonus points for listing potential trade deals, and the only rule is that, for this exercise, the normal trade rules with salary matching don’t apply since, obviously, Amen’s salary does not match that of any of the players mentioned besides Wemby.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 06: Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens departs from a media availability at The Auerbach Center on July 06, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo By Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks. While it’s a disappointing return, I still like the trade for the Celtics and understand why Brad Stevens pulled the trigger.
The Jays era had run its course in Boston. The current iteration of the team had flamed out in the first and second rounds of the last two playoff runs. It was time to make a significant change, and Brad Stevens decided that change would take the form of sending the 2024 Finals MVP to one of the franchise’s historic rivals.
The purpose of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is to tear down teams like the 2024 Boston Celtics. It started last offseason when the front office said goodbye to Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet. The basketball penalties for staying in the second apron are real. The league is treating that apron as a hard cap. Jaylen Brown is the next casualty of that reality.
Brad Stevens alluded to it in his press conference: building a championship roster when two guys are taking up 35% of the cap is untenable which leads to an obvious follow-up question:
Brad, why were you going after Giannis Antetokounmpo, who would have been due his own supermax extension?
Oh, and Paul George is taking up 32.8% of the cap for the next two seasons.
And here comes the part that some Celtics fans don’t want to hear: Jaylen Brown is making top-five player money, and isn’t producing top-five player impact. While Brown produced at a top-10 level in the 2026 regular season, he has consistently fallen short of that standard in the playoffs. The 2024 Finals MVP played his best basketball en route to that championship. But even that player is hard to justify giving supermax money to. When you zoom out and look at Jaylen’s play in the playoffs over the last four seasons, it hasn’t been good enough to justify his contract.
In the 2023, 2025 (knee injury noted), and 2026 playoffs, Brown’s play cratered when the Celtics needed him most. In his press conference, the part that Brad refused to say out loud because he didn’t want to disparage Jaylen, is that it’s not that he believes that two 35% of cap guys can’t win a title, it’s that if one of them is Jaylen Brown and not someone of Jayson Tatum’s or Giannis Antetokounmpo’s caliber, you can’t win a title. On the Paul George side of things, the shorter contract and the additional premium picks provides the Celtics flexibility to build out the roster down the line. We will dive into this side of the trade shortly.
Moving on to the basketball mind of Brad Stevens. If you had polled Celtics fans and the basketball intelligentsia a month ago about Stevens’ basketball acumen, the consensus would have been that he is a basketball savant. Did Brad have a lobotomy last week or does he still know what he’s doing? There is no one on planet Earth who knows Jaylen Brown’s game better than Brad Stevens, from coaching the star forward in his first five seasons, to overseeing his prime as the President of Basketball Operations. Stevens has watched every second of his career. Given that knowledge, not only was Brad willing to trade Brown, but he was willing to trade him to an arch nemesis in the Philadelphia 76ers, a team the Celtics will face six times next season, including the preseason.
As I wandered through the history of this era of Celtics basketball, something jumped out at me. At the end of the 2021 season, Brad Stevens stepped down as head coach and into his current role. The following season, the Celtics hired Ime Udoka, and the Celtics proceeded to go on a magical run to the 2022 NBA Finals, which ended in heartbreak after going up 2-1 on the Steph Curry Warriors. This version of the Celtics went further than Brad ever did as head coach. It was the most successful season of the Jays era. There was no reason to be anything but utterly optimistic about the future of the Celtics.
A month later, Brad Stevens attempted to trade Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant. The deal ultimately did not go through and was quietly swept under the rug as the team prepared for their 2023 campaign. I can’t help but wonder whether Brad has wanted to move on from Jaylen Brown for a while now.
If you continue to follow me down this rabbit hole, it brings us to the decision to sign Brown to a supermax extension after the disastrous Eastern Conference Finals series against the Miami Heat. Sidebar: to those who say that the Celtics have treated Jaylen poorly. The Celtics signed Jaylen to, what was at the time, the richest contract in NBA history, coming off his worst playoff series as a Celtic.
I digress. Brad, I believe, thought two things: one, Jaylen would have more value on a longer contract, even if it was somewhat bloated, than on an expiring contract; and two, he wanted to make sure that everyone on the 2024 team had no contract questions hanging over them so they could focus on achieving their goal of winning the title. That’s why the Jrue Holiday extension got done as well. I went down this rabbit hole because I wanted to answer the question of why trade Jaylen now and not last season (or before that). It would have made sense to tank the 2025-2026 season knowing what we know now.
But if we cast our minds back to the end of the 2025 season, Tatum had just torn his Achilles, and Jaylen had his own meniscus surgery, a procedure that has derailed numerous NBA careers. I think Brad believed he could pull off a Jaylen pump-and-dump scheme which almost worked. Jaylen had a career season in both raw box-score production and accolades. The problem was that the league was not particularly interested in trading for that Jaylen Brown.
The number one source of frustration among Celtics fans, and the criticism from the national media, is that the return for Jaylen Brown fell drastically short of most people’s expectations. The market is the market. The Celtics front office could not force teams to give up more for Jaylen Brown. The league is telling us that the most toxic thing a team can do in the current CBA climate is to have a supermax contract on the books that considerably outpaces the production.
A common sentiment shared over the last week is “the Celtics should have waited because this deal or similar deals would have still been there in September.” It’s possible that this deal would have been there in a month or two. However, I don’t understand ignoring the possibility that the offers could have gotten worse.
When we get to July 26th, and the Celtics tell Jaylen Brown they are not offering him a supermax extension, that gives the Celtics even less leverage in trade negotiations. And if they do give him the extension, then there is no market for Brown. If they wait until next offseason, Jaylen can start leaking to teams whether he will or will not extend.
This was the time to make the trade. After Jaylen finished sixth in MVP voting, this was the peak of his value. Whether Celtics fans can accept that or not, that is the reality. Brad Stevens didn’t look at four different offers and decide to take the worst one. Stevens took the deal that he believes will give the Celtics the best chance to win the title.
Let’s look at the incoming assets for the Celtics. Starting with public enemy number three, Paul George — Brad Stevens and Bill Chisolm are currently occupying spots one and two. If you did this exercise in December of last season, George would have ranked very highly on the league’s worst-contracts list. Fast-forward to July, and Paul George is coming off a playoff run in which he comfortably outplayed Jaylen Brown.
Paul George locking up Jaylen Brown (2026 playoffs)
Let’s be clear. The trade is not really about Paul George though. It’s about the future, and as Brad put it over and over again in his press conference, “optionality.” That’s what the two draft picks and shorter contract do for the Celtics.
However, when healthy, Paul George is still an elite basketball player. While Jaylen Brown is the better basketball player, George is a better fit on this Celtics team. Joe Mazzulla’s strategic philosophy is clear – shoot threes, defend, suppress offensive turnovers, and crash the offensive glass. We’ll start with the shooting. George is an elite shooter both off the catch and off the dribble, a career 38.4% three-point shooter on high volume and high difficulty. On just catch-and-shoot three-pointers over the past nine seasons, George is shooting a blistering 41.3%. For context, over the last five seasons, Jaylen Brown’s overall three-point percentage has been below league average at 34.4%. When isolating his three-point catch-and-shoot numbers, it sits at 34.9%. This leaves defenses with a very different decision when helping off Jaylen versus helping off PG.
Moving through the Mazzulla Ball tenets, next up is defense. Despite Jaylen claiming that he is the “best two-way player in the league,” that has never been close to true. The five-time All-Star can be an elite on-ball defender when he is locked in, but even that part of his game waxes and wanes, as seen in the first round of the playoffs, when Tyrese Maxey and Paul George fried his face off. But where Brown’s defense really falls apart is his off-ball defense. There is no perfect stat to encapsulate Jaylen’s disappointing off ball defense. However, it is a part of Jaylen’s game that I have been critical of for years. Here is a seven-minute film session on Jaylen’s off-ball defense from January 2025.
With all that being said, the analytics conversation around Brown has gone too far. We have the now infamous assertion from an anonymous analytics guy that Jaylen was the seventh best Celtic on the team last season. Nonsense. However, one analytic that has often matched the eye test is the swing on the defensive end of the court. Over the past three seasons, the Celtics have had a 113.4 defensive rating with Jaylen on the court, which would have ranked 8th in the league last season. With Jaylen off the court, the team had a 110.7 defensive rating, which would have ranked third in the league last season.
I believe this swing is largely to do with JB’s weakness when playing off the ball. Conversely, looking at Paul George’s defensive on/off swing, with George on the court for the 76ers over the past two seasons, the Sixers had a 114.1 defensive rating, and a 117.6 defensive rating with him off the court. When healthy, Paul George is still a high level two-way basketball player, and I think will be maximized in a streamlined role in Mazzulla’s system.
Admittedly, the “when healthy” part is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I expect George to be on the Al Horford programwith 28 minutes per game and no back-to-backs. If you get 50 games out of PG with him healthy going into the playoffs, that’s a win to me. The Celtics are a regular season wins machine who can afford to load manage both George and Mitchell Robinson while racking up wins.
The last piece of the Mazzulla Ball puzzle is the contrast in how Paul George affects the team’s turnover rate in comparison to Jaylen’s. Mazzulla typically gets attention for his infatuation with the three-point shot, but the secret sauce is the Celtics’ league leading turnover rate. It’s simple. You have a 0% chance of scoring if you turn the ball over, and you exponentially increase the likelihood of the opposing team scoring when you turn it over yourself.
Jaylen’s biggest weakness on offense has always been his ability to hold onto the ball. The magnum opus was Game 7 of the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. When we compare the impact of each player on their team’s turnover rate, George has the edge here as well. In his time in Philly, the 76ers had a 13.1% turnover rate with George on the floor and a 13.2% turnover rate with him off and recorded a near identical number in his five seasons with the Clippers. If we look at Brown’s last three seasons, the Celtics’ turnover rate was 12.6% with Jaylen on the court and 11.6% with Jaylen off the court. If you isolate to the most recent season, that swing swelled to a swing of 1.4%. You might be thinking these margins are negligible. Joe Mazzulla and Brad Stevens would disagree.
Another angle that sceptics of the Jaylen trade have brought up is how this further limits the Celtics ability to generate rim attempts. While it’s true that Jaylen himself gets to the rim more than Paul George, George creates more overall rim attempts with his passing, while also turning the ball over significantly less.
Moving on to Brad Stevens’ word of the offseason: optionality. While I think the Paul George fit is perfect for Mazzulla Ball, the trade was made for the picks that were acquired and the fact that George has one less year on his contract. Under the new lottery reform, both picks acquired have the upside of being top five picks. Under the new lottery rules, the Clippers are the type of team that should slot into the three lottery balls zone. They’re a bad team, but not bad enough to be in the bottom three in the league, but bad enough to miss the NBA Playoffs and likely the Play-In.
Brad is also betting that a team that has 80%-85% of its cap tied up in 35-year-old Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe are likely to be a Play-In team as well. With those picks, the Celtics now have seven first round picks and swaps to be used to build the next title team. Whether that’s swinging for Nikola Jokic next offseason, or a younger star in someone like Franz Wagner, the specifics are irrelevant. This trades gives the Celtics optionality in a way they did not have before.
The last concern I will address is the concept that this trade went down because Bill Chisolm is a private equity guy, and private equity guys only do things to make money. Firstly, if I ever think Bill Chisolm is cheaping out on the roster, I will be at the front of the line accusing him of being a broke boy.
However, we do not have the answer to whether or not Chisolm is willing to spend into the luxury tax and into the second apron…yet. The basketball penalties for staying in the second apron are severe. Not a single team in the NBA has been willing to stay in the second apron for an extended period. Every team in the league would be attempting to reset the repeater tax like the Celtics did last season and will likely do this upcoming season, too. That was the purpose of the current CBA. As Chisolm told the media in his and Brad’s state of the union, “I will also prove it to you. When we have the opportunity, we’re gonna spend.” Time will tell.
I understand Celtics fan’s emotional and practical attachment to Jaylen Brown. Brown will deservedly have his jersey retired in TD Garden once it’s all said and done. The positive impact he has had on the Boston community cannot be overstated. However, the Boston Celtics’ title window with Jaylen Brown had closed.
The Celtics blew the franchise’s first ever 3-1 lead in the first round to a mediocre Philadelphia 76ers team. It was time for change. Up until this point, it has been easy to have faith in Brad Stevens. Don’t lose faith now.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 05: Julian Reese #15 of the Washington Wizards goes to the basket against John Konchar #55 and Brice Sensabaugh #28 of the Utah Jazz during the second half at Capital One Arena on March 5, 2026 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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.
NEWS: Juju Reese will suit up for the Washington Wizards during the NBA Summer League 🐢 pic.twitter.com/GfOgwH8XR0
— Inside Maryland Sports (@Terrapins247) July 7, 2026
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.
V minuli sezoni je bil Anthony Cowan eden izmed ključnih igralcev pri turškem Mersinu, kjer si je delil garderobo z nekdanjim Zmajem Justinom Cobbsom.#ZmajevaDruzinapic.twitter.com/EmLk2o4ZUY
— Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (@KKCedOL) July 7, 2026
Maryland men’s basketball’s Pharell Payne and Baba Oladotun were placed on JaBiiird’s All-Big Ten projections list.
Two Terps landed on JaBiiird’s All-B1G projections:
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 25: General manager Kyle Dubas arrives for the game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Four of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 25, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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.
Jul 5, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) walk back to the dugout after talking with umpires and Guardians officials about the field conditions before the game between the Guardians and the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
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
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
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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
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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.
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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.
Strange bedfellows in Philadelphia: former Celtics star Jaylen Brown (right) will pair with longtime Sixers big man Joel Embiid.Photograph: Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty Images
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.
Jun 30, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice (22) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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?
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.
dpatop - 24 January 2025, Berlin: A lion yawns relaxed at the zoo. Following the closure due to the foot-and-mouth epidemic, Zoo Berlin is open again after the precautionary closure. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa (Photo by Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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.
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - 2025/10/26: A person walking past a Blue Jays MLB team exhibit inside the Rogers Centre stadium. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) | LightRocket via Getty Images
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.
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.
Nathan Fitzgerald was named in the back pocket for the Epping reserves. A teacher, he was looking forward to the second week of school holidays. Early in the morning, he’d watched the Socceroos with his dad and younger brother. He planned to watch Richmond play Carlton on Saturday night. He’d recently proposed to his long-term girlfriend.
There has been big money and high-profile signings in the Northern Football Netball League over the years, but not in the third division and certainly not in the reserves. Almost all of Epping’s players live and work locally, and played their junior football at the club. Mernda Central College, where “Mr Fitz” taught maths and science, has nearly 1,800 students from prep to year 12. Some of those students were at Lalor Recreation Reserve watching their teacher play. They saw the umpires inspect the ground. They saw the away team establish a nine-goal lead. They saw the initial clash of heads. They saw Nathan’s head then hit another player’s leg, before smashing into the “multilayered synthetic surface” that covers a concrete cricket pitch.
In a 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, the Dodgers had been in control of the game, taking an early lead on Ohtani’s 300th career home run before extending it during a seven-inning, one-run gem from Justin Wrobleski.
In the top of the eighth, however, it all came undone.
Shohei Ohtani belts a solo homer in the first inning, the 300th of his career, in the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the Rockies on July 7, 2026 in Los Angeles. Getty Images
With two costly defensive mistakes, the team helplessly squandered a two-run lead.
The meltdown started immediately after Wrobleski finished his outing, with his replacement Will Klein allowing two runners to reach base with one out.
Then, with Tyler Freeman at the plate, Klein fired a first-pitch fastball that was grounded straight to shortstop Miguel Rojas (getting the start on a day off for Mookie Betts).
Rojas had to range to his left, but still had a chance for an inning-ending double-play.
Instead, he misread a hop and booted the ball off the heel of his mitt.
One run scored. Two runners remained on the corners. And the headache was just getting started.
Left-hander Jack Dreyer was summoned from the Dodgers bullpen next, prompting the Rockies to put on a squeeze play with left-handed hitter Jake McCarthy. McCarthy got his bunt down, scoring the lead runner from third. Third baseman Max Muncy charged to field the ball, throwing in time to get McCarthy at first base, where second baseman Alex Freeland was covering.
It was behind the play where the real action was, as Freeman got aggressive and made a hard turn for third –– realizing that Rojas hadn’t gone to cover the bag.
“Physical errors happen, and I’m okay with that, I’m not perfect,” Rojas said, referencing the error he was charged on the missed on the missed double-play. “But mental errors are the ones that are kind of disappointing. Like, I should have been on third base … That’s the one that I kind of like kick myself for.”
Rojas eventually picked Freeman up, and followed him step for step as Freeland turned at first and fired a throw across the diamond. Alas, his strike was low, Rojas couldn’t squeeze it, and the ball trickled all the way down the steps into the Dodgers dugout.
Tyler Freeman dives safely into third and then scored on Alex Freeland’s scoring error as Miguel Rojas chases the errant throw during the Dodgers’ loss to the Rockies. AP
Freeman was awarded home plate.
The Rockies scored their third unearned run of the inning to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish –– surviving a two-on, no-out jam in the ninth to deny the Dodgers a chance for a series-clinching victory.
“It doesn’t happen very often that he doesn’t make a play,” Roberts said of Rojas. “So when it happens, you know, we don’t like it, doesn’t feel good, but you know that player, I give him a lot of grace, because he is very dependable.”
What it means
Tuesday should’ve been about Ohtani, who reached his home run milestone three pitches into the game.
In a 2-0 count against Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, the two-way lifted a towering 409-foot drive deep to center field, reaching the 300-homer club with his 20th blast of the season.
Playing in his 1,101st career MLB game as a hitter, Ohtani eclipsed the 300-homer mark faster than all but four previous players to do so (Aaron Judge, Ralph Kiner, Ryan Howard, Juan Gonzalez). He also became the first Japanese-born player to hit that many home runs, and only the second –– along with Babe Ruth –– to do so while also serving as a pitcher.
Shohei Ohtani belts his 300th homer in the first inning of the Dodgers’ loss to the Rockies. AP
“Only 414 to go,” one member of the Japanese press joked, referencing Ruth’s former all-time homer record of 714.
At age 32, Ohtani is unlikely to challenge that total.
But, more round numbers figure to be in his future. Since joining the Dodgers, he has maintained a pace of more than 50 per season.
“He’s still young, still strong,” Roberts said. “So I definitely think 500 is in his future.”
Who’s hot
For now, Wrobleski remains snubbed from the All-Star Game.
But after another seven-inning gem against the Rockies, he remains a strong candidate to be picked as a replacement.
Justin Wrobleski held the Rockies to one run over seven innings in the Dodgers’ loss. AP
In Tuesday’s game, the left-hander worked around six hits while striking out nine batters –– giving him 20 total punchouts in his last two starts after struggling to generate Ks for much of this season.
The effort lowered his ERA to 2.69, eighth-lowest in the National League. It also marked his seventh time this season completing seven innings, tied for fifth-most in the majors behind only Nathan Eovaldi, Cristopher Sánchez, Michael Wacha and Logan Webb.
Who’s not
We covered the Dodgers’ porous defense above, so let’s focus on someone who is no longer injured.
In his first appearance back from Tommy John surgery last June, Evan Phillips pitched a scoreless inning in the ninth that featured two strikeouts, a fastball that got up to nearly 99 mph and a nice ovation from the crowd after stranding a two-out single.
Phillips will be a key arm to watch in the coming weeks, as the team evaluates its bullpen hierarchy and he tries to re-establish himself as a high-leverage option.
“As frustrating as this loss is tonight, that’s really a silver lining for tonight,” Roberts said of Phillips’ return. “He had a long road with Tommy John, so really happy for him.”
Up next
The Dodgers and Rockies conclude this series on Wednesday, when Roki Sasaki (3-5, 5.40 ERA) will look to bounce back from his recent struggles while facing Colorado right-hander Ryan Feltner (3-2, 4.27 ERA).
