NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 14: Fox Sports announcer Jason Benetti before a Hall of Fame Series college basketball game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden on December 14, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images). | Getty Images
If you watch the Tigers during the regular season, you have likely grown to know and love the voice of Jason Benetti. He started with the club as the Tiger’s primary play-by-play announcer in the 2024 season, and while he hasn’t been around long—he was with the White Sox before coming to Detroit—he has become a beloved part of the Tigers home-viewing experience. He tempers his vast knowledge of the game with an enthusiastic sense of fun and whimsy, and brings out the best in whoever happens to be sharing a booth with him for the games. Even the stodgiest color commentator becomes a joyful co-conspirator when Benetti is seated alongside him.
Well, starting in the 2026 season, the Tigers are going to need to share Benetti with a national broadcast audience. He has been hired as the new lead play-by-play announcer for NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball. While this, thankfully, does not mean Benetti is bidding farewell to the Tigers, it does mean we’ll get a different voice for television broadcasts on Sundays while he works for the national crew. I, for one, won’t mind this if it means we get to steal the sonorous delights of Dan Dickerson on the TV broadcasts once a week, but the official slate of announers for those games remains to be seen (or heard).
This is wonderful news, indeed, for Benetti, who is perhaps one of the best announcers currently working in baseball, and deserves to be heard by a wider audience. As long as it doesn’t make him consider leaving Detroit, of course.
Here’s the statement from the Tigers on the announcement.
The new voice of Sunday Night Baseball on @NBCSports! 👏
We are grateful to have @jasonbenetti as part of our Tigers family and you can continue to catch him calling Tigers games all season long. pic.twitter.com/ongPx2Frf9
The Mets’ Spring Breakout roster pool has been announced, and plenty of the team’s top prospects will partake in that game against Rays prospects on March 19.
Mike Petriello ranked teams in tiers heading into the 2026 season, and the Mets are in his third tier alongside the Braves and Orioles as teams that missed the playoffs last year but seem likely to make them this year.
Sandy Alcantara, who’s looking to put up much better numbers this year than he did after returning from injury last year, struck out four in a spring training game.
The Dodgers are continuing to work with the family of Andrew Toles, having provided support for the former outfielder through his mental health struggles over the past several years.
What a tremendous time to be a fan of baseball. We have Spring Training underway, getting an early look at how our beloved teams will shape up this season. And on top of that, the World Baseball Classic is officially underway. This means everywhere we look, there’s baseball to watch and talk about, and all before the regular season gets going at the end of this month.
We’ve got lots of little WBC tidbits in today’s news, plus some discussion of baseball’s top prospects, and one major league pitcher who might be starting to worry his team.
It’s Friday, so grab a coffee, kick back, and get your daily dose of baseball news in.
The new voice of Sunday Night Baseball on @NBCSports! 👏
We are grateful to have @jasonbenetti as part of our Tigers family and you can continue to catch him calling Tigers games all season long. pic.twitter.com/ongPx2Frf9
NORTH PORT, FL - MARCH 04: Members of the Atlanta Braves celebrate a win after the game between the Team Columbia and the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Grace Hoppel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves continued trimming down the roster Thursday, announcing five more cuts. Jhancarlos Lara was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, while Austin Pope, Jim Jarvis, Alex Lodise and Luke Waddell were reassigned to minor league camp. After these moves, there are 54 active players in camp.
None of the moves come as much of a surprise as the Braves begin the gradual process of shaping their Opening Day roster. With several established players already locked into big-league roles, many of the early cuts were expected to come from the group of younger depth pieces and non-roster invites still getting their first looks in big-league camp.
More Braves News:
Spencer Strider and the Braves were victorious during Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The full 40-man Spring Breakout Roster is here! Cam Caminiti, JR Ritchie, and John Gil headline the list.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies compete against each other in the World Baseball Classic this afternoon, and here’s everything you need to know.
Hours after acquiring left winger Warren Foegele for a combination of draft picks, the Senators alleviated their logjam of depth forwards.
With news that Stephen Halliday was an extra forward and that Kurtis MacDermid was drawing into the lineup against the Calgary Flames, there was speculation that his future could be clouded ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline.
Instead, it is veteran forward David Perron who is headed out the door.
The organization announced that they had moved the impending unrestricted free agent to the division rival Detroit Red Wings for a conditional fourth-round pick. The conditions of the pick are outlined as follows: provided Perron plays in a regular season game for the Wings before the end of the year, Ottawa will receive a 2026 fourth-round pick. If the Red Wings advance to the second round of the postseason and Perron plays in more than 50 percent of the games, that fourth-round pick will become a 2026 third.
Perron has not played since the Senators’ January 20th game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The winger has missed the past 12 games after undergoing sports hernia surgery.
When healthy, the 37-year-old proved he still was an effective player. In 49 games with the Senators this season, he scored 10 goals and had 25 points while providing the strong underlying metrics that have traditionally followed the veteran across his 19-year career.
Unfortunately, injuries and a 2024 family issue limited Perron to 92 games across two seasons for the Senators, contributing 19 goals and 41 points.
Interestingly, general managers Steve Staios and Steve Yzerman were engaged in a lengthy conversation in the press box at the Canadian Tire Centre during an intermission of their teams’ matchup on Thursday, February 26th. And now, we know what they were likely discussing.
This trade affords Perron the opportunity to return to Detroit, where he spent two seasons before joining the Senators as a free agent during the 2024 offseason.
The trade leaves the Senators with $12,779,484 in accrued cap space, per PuckPedia. It leaves the organization with considerable room if it intends to make another deal (or two) to improve its roster at tomorrow’s trade deadline.
And, following tonight’s 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames that left the Senators four points back of the Boston Bruins and the Eastern Conference’s second wild card seed, there is the potential for things to get very interesting.
The addition of Warren Foegele earlier in the day certainly made Perron expendable. His acquisition allows the organization to return Nick Cousins to a fourth line role, which better suits him.
It does, however, raise questions about Stephen Halliday’s future. The young 23-year-old has played and produced well in his limited minutes this season, but Foegele's presence could push him to the outside, provided the organization does not move another veteran like Lars Eller or Fabian Zetterlund.
Given his age and production, there should be considerable interest in Halliday as a prospective trade chip.
VAL DI FASSA, Italy (AP) — With neither injured Lindsey Vonn nor Mikaela Shiffrin starting a World Cup downhill on Friday, Emma Aicher seized her chance to cut the American superstars’ leads in the season-long standings.
Aicher, the Olympic downhill silver medalist, placed second — just 0.01 behind first-time winner Laura Pirovano, pushing Olympic champion Breezy Johnson down to third — and reduced Vonn’s lead in the downhill points race to just 14 with two races left.
Vonn’s hugely successful World Cup season at age 41 was ended by a nasty crash one month ago at the Milan Cortina Olympics that wrecked her left leg.
Aicher’s 80 World Cup points Friday also reduced Shiffrin’s lead in the overall standings to 139 ahead of another downhill scheduled Saturday.
The tightening race for the giant crystal globe trophy with eight races left could see Shiffrin make a rare start in a super-G Sunday. Chasing a sixth career World Cup overall title. Shiffrin has so far accrued all her points in slalom and giant slalom.
Pirovano was a popular winner on home snow getting a first win, also a first podium finish, in her 125th World Cup start.
The 28-year-old Italian has been a model of consistency reeling off top-10 results this season and sixth place in the Olympic downhill at nearby Cortina d’Ampezzo.
An elusive first victory lifted Pirovano to third in the downhill standings, trailing 64 behind Vonn and 50 back of Aicher.
Pirovano was among the few racers to top 130 kph (81 mph) on a sunny, still and freezing day that was ideal for the marquee speed discipline.
Two former Olympic champions dropped out of contention after losing time on the bottom half of the 2.3-kilometer (1 2/5-mile) course.
Corinne Suter, the 2022 Olympics gold medalist, looked set to match her win last weekend at Soldeu, Andorra, but placed eighth, 0.49 behind Pirovano.
Sofia Goggia, the 2018 champion and bronze medalist at Cortina last month, was 0.90 back in 17th.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 05: Cade Smith #36 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches in the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch on March 05, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yesterday, the Guardians crushed the White Sox 12-3 and Cade Smith made a great 2026 Cactus League debut.
Smith threw 9 pitches in a 1-2-3 fifth inning in his return from neck soreness. Tanner Bibee threw four scoreless, Erik Sabrowski struck out two in a scoreless frame, and Tim Herrin struck out three… but also allowed two hits, a walk and a run.
On the offensive side, CJ Kayfus hit a two-run homer, so did Milan Tolentino and Carter Kieboom hit a three-run bomb. Jaison Chourio had a triple, Angel Martinez had two BABIP hits including a double, Brayan Rocchio, Angel Genao, George Valera and Kody Huff added doubles. Oh, and Autin Hedges had two hits, so you know how bad a night it was for Rangers’ pitching.
Australia won again in the World Baseball Classic, beating Czechia 5-1, but Travis Bazzana went 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout. He did put on a defensive clinic at second base, though.
Travis Bazzana makes a great play picking up his first baseman as Australia escapes trouble in the third pic.twitter.com/gbXnTIFbkP
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 6, 2026
Stephen Vogt had some comments about Chase DeLauter. I’ll let you decide what they mean. Sounds like they are trying to build him up for Opening Day but it’s obviously not ideal.
"He's learning how to work. We're learning how to help Chase feels close to 100% every day"#Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt says Chase DeLauter is "day to day", but is happy with the way things have progressed this spring. #GuardsBall@WEWSpic.twitter.com/oirjWyMAA9
Mark DeRosa is managing the squad, which includes MVP winners such as Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper, and the reigning Cy Young Award winners in Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes. DeRosa, a solid player across 16 MLB seasons, is joined by a who's who of assistants.
Team USA was runner-up in the 2023 World Baseball Classic after falling to Japan in the championship. The U.S. has assembled a much more impressive roster on paper in 2026 but will face staunch competition from Japan again, as well as the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela, among others.
DeRosa, who's now an MLB Network analyst alongside his Team USA managing duties, has no shortage of experience among his coaching staff for the WBC. Here's a look at Team USA's full staff ahead of its first game against Brazil on March 6 in Houston:
Team USA coaching staff for WBC
Manager: Mark DeRosa
Bench coach: Skip Schumaker
Pitching coach: Andy Pettitte
Hitting coach: Matt Holliday
First base coach: George Lombard
Third base coach: Dino Ebel
Bullpen coach: David Ross
Assistant manager: Fredi Gonzalez
Assistant manager: Brian McCann
Assistant manager: Michael Young
There's plenty of MLB managing experience on Team USA's coaching staff, including current Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. Schumaker, an 11-year MLB veteran, was the National League Manager of the Year with the Marlins in 2023.
Former Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, the winningest postseason pitcher ever, returns as pitching coach. Pettitte won five World Series titles with New York. Seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday will lead the hitters. The 2007 batting champion's sons Jackson Holliday and Ethan Holliday were both recent top-five picks in the MLB draft.
Tigers bench coach George Lombard is the first base coach and Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel will handle the same duties for Team USA. Lombard's oldest son, George Lombard Jr., is a top prospect for the Yankees. His other son, Jacob Lombard, is one of the top 2026 MLB Draft prospects.
Former Cubs manager David Ross will lead the bullpen. The World Series is a two-time World Series champion with the Red Sox (2013) and Cubs (2016).
Brian McCann, Michael Young and Fredi Gonzalez round out the staff as assistant managers. McCann and Young are both seven-time All-Stars, and Gonzalez, a former MLB manager, led the Marlins from 2007-10 and Braves from 2011-16.
Puerto Rico, one of just four countries to advance to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals in the first five tournaments, will play on in the 2026 edition. Yet the Boricua may have already suffered their most significant losses weeks before the WBC began.
For the first time since 2013, Puerto Rico will be without its superstar infielders, Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor, who were ruled out of the tournament due to insurance concerns.
Lindor subsequently suffered a hamate bone injury that would have knocked him out, anyway. Yet Correa’s loss – along with valued catcher Victor Caratini and right-hander Jose Berríos – can be attributed to a risk management issue that girds the tournament’s capability to utilize major league stars in a full-go, competitive environment during spring training.
Why can’t Carlos Correa play in the WBC?
Correa’s history of leg injuries is well-documented, since he suffered a fractured right tibia as a Houston Astros minor leaguer. The injury history emerged in the spotlight during Correa’s second tour through free agency, when deals exceeding $300 million in value with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets were scrapped due to concerns that emerged during his physical before the 2023 season.
Major league players are insured during the WBC – which is co-owned and operated by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association - through National Financial Partners. NFP refuses to guarantee contracts for players whose contracts are in their second guaranteed year in a season a position player turns 37, and fourth guaranteed year for pitchers turning 37, baseball officials familiar with the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Yet injury history and recent surgical procedures can also scuttle a player’s eligibility.
Jose Altuve, Jose Berríos: Ineligible for WBC
Lindor had a minor right elbow debridement after last season, scuttling his eligibility before his hamate issue emerged. Jose Altuve, 35, had a pair of strikes against him: He suffered a broken thumb playing for Venezuela in the 2023 WBC, and his $125 million contract extension runs through 2029; he will turn 37 in 2028.
Berríos, 31, pitched for Puerto Rico in 2013, 2017 and 2023. Yet he revealed last month that elbow inflammation that ended his season early was preceded by problems with his biceps tendon that he pitched through. Now, he’ll miss his first WBC, but should be nearing full health in time for the Blue Jays to begin defense of their American League title.
And Venezuela’s infield depth will be further thinned by the absence of Miguel Rojas, the Dodgers’ World Series hero. He turned 37 on Feb. 24, rendering his $5.5 million salary for 2026 – his final big league season, he’s said – uninsurable.
“It's really hard to not have the opportunity to put my country on my chest and to represent them and help win a World Baseball Classic – and not have the opportunity to do it because I'm 37 years old," Rojas said at the Dodgers’ fan festival last month. "That's not right. I don't feel it's right."
Last summer, there were rumours about the Montreal Canadiens being in trade talks with the St. Louis Blues to acquire winger Jordan Kyrou. However, when the two organizations announced a trade, it didn’t involve him, but rather two young players: Zachary Bolduc and right-shot 22-year-old defenseman Logan Mailloux.
Since the trade, the 23-year-old Bolduc has played 59 games with the Habs, been a healthy scratch once last week, and has 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points. He’s also gotten 24 penalty minutes and has a minus-nine rating.
Meanwhile, Mailloux has played five games with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL and 46 games with the Blues. He picked up two points in Springfield (both goals) and three goals and two assists for five points in the NHL.
In his last five games, though, Mailloux has scored two goals, taken 13 shots, landed eight hits, blocked five shots and has a plus-five differential while playing on the Blues’ second pairing. Meanwhile, Bolduc has recorded two points, both assists, in his last five game put together a minus-one record, took two shots, blocked one and landed 13 hits while playing in the bottom six alongside Jake Evans and Alex Newhook.
Should the Canadiens have buyer’s remorse? It’s much too early to tell. Both players are still very young and are nowhere near done developing. When he joined the Canadiens, Bolduc was parachuted into a whole new system, playing under Martin St-Louis meant learning to read the plays and making the right decisions at the right time, rather than just using a standard system, which takes time. This is Bolduc’s first full season in the NHL, and he still has plenty of time to learn and improve.
Granted, the Canadiens could do with a right-shot defenseman right now, but they do have David Reinbacher and Bryce Pickford in the pipeline, and if Bolduc becomes the player the Habs’ brass felt he could become under St-Louis’ tutelage, the trade will have paid off for both sides.
The Philadelphia Flyers still haven't managed to fix their center depth, and one of the key cogs they just traded has already found a permanent new home in the NHL.
So far, with one month to go in the 2025-26 season, Trevor Zegras has not taken over as a full-time center as many of us expected in the offseason.
Instead, that role belongs to fellow newcomer Christian Dvorak, with Noah Cates, a declining Sean Couturier, and Carl Grundstrom filling in behind.
Top prospect Jett Luchanko lasted only four games with the Flyers, and Rodrigo Abols is done for the season with a lower-body injury.
With all that in perspective, it's fair to say the Flyers are missing old friend Ryan Poehling, whom they traded to the Anaheim Ducks in the Zegras trade.
And, while the Flyers still appear to have gotten the better end of that trade, they did create a gap in the lineup that's been plaguing them all season. Both things can be true.
On Thursday, Poehling, 27, cashed in on a solid first season in California, signing a four-year, $15 million ($3.75 million AAV) contract to remain with the Ducks.
The ex-Flyers forward has slotted in nicely behind the likes of Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish in Anaheim, and, importantly, does not have any trade protection in his new deal.
Given the state of the NHL trade market over the last few years, that very well could work out in the Ducks' favor in the future.
Poehling has seven goals, 17 assists, and 24 points in 54 games this season in his depth role.
Comparatively, Dvorak, who signed a much more lucrative five-year, $25.75 million extension with the Flyers in January, has trade protection in all but the last season of his deal, sitting at 13 goals, 24 assists, and 37 points in 60 games playing almost top-line minutes almost exclusively with Zegras.
Poehling, with an expanded role and a bit of finishing luck, could be matching or surpassing Dvorak's offensive production, but the Ducks were happy to keep him in a role that matches his skillset and pay him accordingly.
As for the Flyers, the position they're in is very similar to when they had Poehling, looking for what they lost.
Feb 11, 2026; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) runs a drill during spring training at BareCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
The pool play for the WBC begins in earnest today, which means as I write this, Shohei Ohtani hits a grand slam to open the scoring for Samurai Japan.
The Hawk* signs a blank check, Kirby Puckett departs this vale,and other stories.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
1987 – Free agent Andre Dawson* signs a one-year contract with the Cubs for the bargain-basement price of $650,000. Dawson had offered to sign a contract with the dollar amount left blank just so he could play on the natural grass at Wrigley Field and save his fragile knees. He will hit 49 home runs, lead the majors in RBIs, and win the 1987 N.L. MVP Award. (1,2)
2005 – Suzyn Waldman becomes the first woman to be a full-time color commentator in major league history, making her debut with John Sterling on WCBS-AM 880, the radio flagship of the New York Yankees. The former radio-talk host on WFAN, the first all-sports radio station in United States, was also the first female to broadcast on a national baseball telecast, as well as the first to provide local TV (Yankees) major league play-by-play. (2)
2016 – The Commissioner’s office overturns the two-game suspension handed to Dodgers IF Chase Utley for a dangerous slide that injured the Mets’Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS. The decision is because the rules regarding sliding at the time were too vague; they have since been strengthened. (2)
1521 – Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
1788 – The British First Fleet arrives at Australian territory of Norfolk Island to found a convict settlement.
1831 – Edgar Allan Poe court-martialed and dismissed from West Point military academy for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders.
1836 – Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting, 1,500-3,000 Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders, killing 182-257 Texans including William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett.
1857 – Dred Scott Decision: US Supreme Court rules Africans cannot be US citizens.
1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table of the elements to the Russian Chemical Society.
1918 – US naval boat “Cyclops” disappears in Bermuda Triangle. The ship was traveling from Barbados to Baltimore — it has never been found.
1964 – Boxing legend Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to “Muhammad Ali”, calling his former title a “slave name.”
Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 04: Dyson Daniels #5 of the Atlanta Hawks fouls Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks during the third quarter at Fiserv Forum on March 04, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 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 Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Hawks came into Wednesday night four games up on the Milwaukee Bucks in the race for the Eastern Conference Play-In tournament. As added stakes, the Hawks famously own the pick that will turn out to be the better pick between the Bucks and the New Orleans Pelicans.
A win here essentially means both progress towards a postseason appearance AND a better draft pick. So, the importance of this one game out of 82 really couldn’t be overstated.
At the same time, one of the (if not THE) greatest slashers in of all NBA history had just come back from a calf injury, and so the Hawks had their hands full cutting off his path the basket.
The defensive gameplan was, initially, what it usually is when Onyeka Okongwu starts: put Okongwu on Giannis Antetokounmpo and have Jalen Johnson check the stretch center instead (in this case, Myles Turner). But the former matchup very quickly appeared one-sided.
One thing was very evident early on: Okongwu didn’t want to pick Antetokounmpo up outside of the three-point line. Even though he’s obviously not a threatening three-point shooter, it’s still not necessarily the right move to give ground and allow Antetokounmpo momentum heading into the paint.
Here is a classic example of what happened a lot in the first half:
Okongwu has defended Antetokounmpo well at times in the past, but he didn’t seem up for the task on Wednesday. In this one, he tries taking a charge at the free throw line. He had just picked up his first foul and didn’t want a second minutes into the game.
But it’s still just a poor decision from him, and frankly he knew it was just as the Greek Freak slithered by him for an easy dunk:
Something had to change. It was at this point that the coaching staff made a big gamble.
The plan they concocted: what if we put our point guard on Giannis?
Dyson Daniels isn’t just some point guard, of course. He finished second in Defensive Play of the Year voting a season ago. But to put your best perimeter defender on a guy who is three or four inches taller and outweighs him by some 40-odd pounds? That’s a risk.
To that point, the Bucks had scored 56 points in 18 minutes of game time, and Antetokounmpo led that charge with 12 points on 6-for-8 (75%) shooting.
The Bucks’ offense continued rolling after the assignment shift until halftime, shooting 62% from the field and 11-for-19 (58%) from three in the opening half en route to 71 points on a Milwaukee offensive rating of 148 — all truly ugly marks for the Hawks defense.
But the second half was a different matter — and it started with Daniels’ brilliance. The Hawks forced the Bucks to go 1-for-10 in their first ten shot attempts by cutting off the head of the snake.
Atlanta would live with Ousmane Dieng trying to replicate his hot shooting start — a start he did not replicate. Meanwhile, Giannis hardly saw the ball from great ball denial from Daniels off the ball.
On his first shot attempt of the second half, Daniels here picks Antetokounmpo up right at the top of the key (a big difference to how Okongwu handled the matchup), muscles with him in close quarters, and forces him into a fadeaway baseline jumper through great lateral movement:
Defense is a team effort, of course. Even after being switched off his main assignment, Okongwu along with others stayed focused in chipping in to double or wall off Antetokounmpo when needed.
Here’s an example of Daniels cutting off a drive — with a straight up double from Nickeil Alexander-Walker to force a pass out. Jalen Johnson closes out to the shooter with the remaining defenders in good position on the backside in case of a skip pass. Another empty possession forced:
And the Great Barrier Thief always has fantastic hand and eye coordination, using his quick mitts to strip Antetokounmpo to force a stop (this was registered as a block and not a steal):
These efforts helped the Hawks roll to a very satisfying 133-116 win.
The second half alone, the Hawks scored 65 points while allowing just 42 points and an 86 defensive rating. Giannis Antetokounmpo only scored six points on 3-for-6 (50%) shooting while being held to just one assist in that time period as well.
“It’s hard to come up with the superlatives for him defensively,” head coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “The fact that he can guard across different positions. You’re not going to stop Giannis, but you can try to make it hard.”
Daniels has gotten a lot of flak this season for a year in which some people believe is a step back for him. His issues shooting threes as a guard is very notable, and he’s taking by far the fewest three-point attempts per 100 possessions of his career.
After a historic season swiping the ball, his per-game steals mark has dropped from 3.0 to 1.9. He’s scoring less overall and less efficiently despite having the ball in his hands a lot more in the post-Trae Young world.
But both the eyes and the advanced stats should be able to see how incredibly valuable he is as a basketball player.
When you can go from shutting down the other team’s small guard to shutting down a 6-foot-11 behemoth and top five player in the world all while handling the ball on offense, that worth in versatility is something that is impossible to capture in any sort of data.
Did I mention he has also played the 15th most minutes in the NBA (as of Thursday afternoon) and has only missed three of 63 contests this season?
Put plainly: Dyson Daniels has a special skillset. He works extremely hard day in and day out, is always available, and operate key functions on both ends of the floor.
On offense, he’s been incredibly cautious but effective as a lead playmaker as of late:
And on defense, by adding strength to his frame over his years of development, Daniels can now take on all sorts of defensive matchups — although his bread and butter remains smaller perimeter ball handlers. But to do that while taking over point guard duties midseason after Trae Young’s departure is nothing short of incredible.
In fact, as of yesterday afternoon, Daniels is the 16th best qualified player (and best Hawk) in plus-minus on-off splits. Over the course of the season, the Hawks are 8.8 points per 100 possessions with Daniels on the court compared to off the court:
Raw on/off numbers without adjustments or context just gives you glimpses and not the full picture, but among qualified players, Dyson Daniels is 16th in on/off per 100 (+8.8).
Daniels starts a four-year, $100 million extension this offseason. If you simply read box scores and peruse his meager scoring numbers, it would be easy to assume his play this season should give Hawks fans pause about that price tag.
But the tape reveals a game-changing defensive player who can capably guard just about any player he’s assigned to guard.
So, it’s a major win that the Hawks have Daniels locked up for the foreseeable future. This kind of rare versatility gives the Hawks a number of solutions to in-game problems that few players, if any, possess on their own.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MARCH 05: Tre Jones #30 of the Chicago Bulls lays up shot ahead of Oso Ighodaro #11 of the Phoenix Suns during the second half of the NBA game at Mortgage Matchup Center on March 05, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Bulls defeated the Suns 105-103. 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 Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Two storylines arrived at the same building on Thursday night. Two very different roads that somehow crossed at the same intersection.
On one side, you had the Chicago Bulls. A team whose fan base is staring at the draft lottery like it is a lighthouse in the fog. They want losses. They want ping pong balls. They want the chance to grab a high pick in what everyone says is a loaded draft class. Development is not the priority right now. Evaluation is not the priority either. Injuries have piled up, tank mode is humming along quietly in the background, and they rolled into Phoenix ready to play hard, although not exactly carrying the burden of expectation.
Then you have the Phoenix Suns.
They are a team with injuries of their own. A team that has spent the entire season clawing and scratching to stay above the Play-In line, but cannot seem to overcome it. A team that built its identity on effort, disruption, and the belief that if they played hard enough for forty eight minutes, they could walk off the floor with a win.
Home court. Stakes on the table. A game they needed. And somehow the script flipped.
Because the Suns looked like the team that had nothing to play for. They looked like the team that could shrug and find a silver lining in a loss. The defense was abhorrent. Truly. It felt like watching a layup line that never ended. Chicago poured in 68 points in the paint, and if you were sitting in the arena, it probably felt like 120. Every drive found daylight. Every cut felt clean.
Collin Sexton treated the defense like a set of traffic cones. Tre Jones joined the party. The two guards combined for 51 points and only three made threes between them. They did the damage the old-fashioned way. They attacked downhill, over and over again, straight to the rim. The pattern repeated itself like a broken record. Chicago drives. Layup. Phoenix fires from three. Miss. Chicago rebounds. Pushes. Attacks again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
This Suns team built a reputation this season on making life uncomfortable for opponents. They swarm passing lanes. They pressure the ball. They turn possessions chaotic. None of that showed up. And on the other end, the offense drifted into quicksand. Phoenix shot 28.3% from deep on 48 attempts. The rhythm never arrived. The energy never arrived either. They never led in the game against one of the worst teams in the league.
Yes, it is one game in an eighty-two game season. There is barely time to process it before the next tip off arrives. Another struggling opponent waits on the schedule tonight. Although a small whisper of concern creeps into the room after a night like that. Because when you fail to handle your business once, the margin for error tightens immediately. And this team is fighting for something real right now. Playoff positioning. Stability in the standings.
You cannot sleepwalk through games like that when the stakes are sitting right in front of you.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
It has taken far too long for Oso Ighodaro to notch his second Bright Side Baller award. He has been one of many genuine, sun-soaked surprises of this season. But in a way, the delay fits exactly who and what he is.
He is the guy who doesn’t always scream for the spotlight. He doesn’t hunt the stats that lead to the headlines or the hardware. Instead, he just does the work. He does the little things. The screen assists, the dirty work in the paint, the rotations that coaches love and casual fans overlook. He is the glue holding the second unit together, an annoying fly on the wall for opposing offenses.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 62 against the Bulls. Here are your nominees:
