The Boston Red Sox’ struggling lineup could soon get a much-needed boost.
Alex Bregman is inching closer to returning from a quad injury that has sidelined him since May 23. According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the star third baseman said Monday there is a chance he returns before the All-Star break. Boston’s last game before the break is scheduled for July 13.
Bregman looked like an American League MVP candidate before his injury. Through 51 games, the 31-year-old slashed .299/.385/.553 with 11 homers and 35 RBI. He still ranks second on the team in homers, fourth in RBI, and second in doubles (17).
With Rafael Devers no longer in the picture, the Red Sox desperately need Bregman’s bat in the middle of their lineup. They entered Monday having lost three consecutive series and seven of their last eight games. Since trading Devers, they have a 4-8 record with an average of only 3.83 runs scored per game.
Despite missing the last month, Bregman was the only Red Sox position player to advance to Phase 2 of MLB All-Star Game voting. Phase 2 voting ends Wednesday at noon.
The Red Sox will look to turn things around when they welcome the Cincinnati Reds to Fenway Park on Monday night.
Max Muncy, above celebrating a two-run home run against the Royals last Friday, is hitting .313 over his last 43 games with 12 homers and 47 RBIs. (Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
The glasses might’ve come first. But it was a light bulb moment with the swing that made the most profound change.
Just over a month into the season this year, veteran Dodgers slugger Max Muncy was in a desperate search for answers.
Through the team’s first 30 games, his batting average started with a one and his home run total was stuck on zero. His role as the team’s starting third baseman was being called into question, fueling early-season speculation that the team would need to replace him before the trade deadline. He was absorbing daily criticism from fans, while trying not to succumb to internal self-flagellation.
The 10-year veteran had gone through cold starts before. But nothing quite so frustrating as this.
“It’s a privilege to play under this pressure, and it’s something I’ve always thrived on, but it doesn’t mean it’s been easy,” Muncy said on the last day of April. “It’s been a rough month.”
Starting that afternoon, however, Muncy made one big change. Upon learning he had astigmatism in his right eye, he began wearing glasses at the plate to balance out his vision. In his first game using them, he hit his first home run of the year.
Then, nine days later, came the real breakthrough.
After spending the entirety of the winter tinkering with his swing, and most of the opening month trying to calibrate his mechanics, everything suddenly synched up during a May 9 at-bat in Arizona.
Muncy took a quick hack at a high fastball from Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel. He lined a ninth-inning, tying single through the right side of the infield in the Dodgers’ eventual win at Chase Field. And he realized that, finally, he’d found a feeling in the batter’s box he’d been chasing the last several years.
A demarcation point had just been established.
And Muncy’s season has been transformed ever since.
“The funny thing about baseball is, sometimes, it just takes one swing, one play, one pitch to lock someone in,” he said. “And ever since that day, I’ve had that feeling in the back of my head. Like, ‘That’s what it’s supposed to feel like.’”
In 36 games before then, Muncy was hitting .188 with only one home run, eight RBIs and 43 strikeouts; his early days with the glasses not even leading to an immediate turnaround.
But since May 9, he has been one of the best hitters in baseball, and on one of the most prolific stretches of his entire career. Over his last 43 games, Muncy’s batting average is .313, a personal best over any span that long in the majors. He has 12 home runs and a whopping 47 RBIs, a major-league-leading total in that stretch. According to Fangraphs’ all-encompassing wRC+ statistic, only Ronald Acuña Jr., Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge and Ketel Marte have been more productive at the plate.
And, most important, he has re-established himself as a central cog in the Dodgers’ lineup.
“He’s one of our most trusted hitters,” manager Dave Roberts said this past weekend. “I haven’t always been able to say that.”
Being a better, more trusted hitter has been a work in progress for Muncy ever since the devastating elbow injury he suffered at the end of 2021.
In Muncy’s prime years with the Dodgers from 2018-21, he not only blossomed as one of the best sluggers in baseball by belting 118 home runs over a four-year stretch, but did so while posting a .246 batting average and .371 on-base-percentage; solid marks for a power threat occupying a key role in the middle of the Dodgers’ order.
At the core of that all-around approach was an ability to handle pitches to all parts of the plate — none more important than elevated fastballs at the top of the strike zone.
Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy writhes in pain after colliding with the Milwaukee Brewers' Jace Peterson during the final regular-season game in 2021. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“When I’m going well, I’m a really good high-fastball hitter,” Muncy said earlier this year.
“When Max is covering that pitch,” added hitting coach Aaron Bates, “it allows him to do so many other things as a hitter.”
Coming off his elbow injury, however, getting to high heat became a weakness in Muncy’s game. For much of the next two years, when he still hit for power but batted only a combined .204, he felt “it was really hard to replicate” his old swing. Last year, he made some incremental progress — when he batted .232 — but was stalled by an oblique strain that cost him the middle three months of the season.
Thus, this winter, Muncy set his mind to rediscovering his old mechanics.
“It really wasn’t that big of a change,” he said. “It was just going back to what I did when I first got here from 2018 to 2021. The same philosophy I had all those years.”
The work started in January, when Bates and fellow Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc visited Muncy at his home in Texas and crafted a simple focus for the 34-year-old’s offseason work: Purposely practice hitting grounders and line drives on a lower trajectory, in hopes it would train his swing to stay on top of the ball even on pitches up in the zone.
“You know he’s naturally going to have loft in his swing to elevate the baseball easily,” Bates said. “So that was a focus point for him, making sure he can hit a hard line drive on a pitch up in the zone, not necessarily trying to elevate it more than he needs to.”
A sound theory, with some disastrous early results.
At the start of the year, Muncy’s new swing thought bred other unexpected bad habits. In his effort to stay on top of the ball, he was opening up his backside and letting his front shoulder drift too far forward at the start of his move. As a result, Muncy had trouble squaring the ball and keeping his bat level through the strike zone. It led to not only a lack of power, but a diminished ability to distinguish the kind of pitches being thrown — evidenced by a nearly 32% strikeout rate in April that was seventh-highest among MLB hitters.
“That’s where it’s tough playing the sport,” Muncy said. “Because you can’t chase results immediately, even though you kind of have to. You have to chase the process in the long run.”
And even as external pressure over his dwindling production mounted, Muncy said the club’s coaches and front office assured him he’d have time to keep working through it.
“It’s easier to stick with something long-term when that’s the case,” Muncy said. “And for me, that’s been my entire career. Trust the process, not the result.”
During late April, Muncy’s process included a visit to the same eye doctor who had diagnosed Kiké Hernández with eye astigmatism last year; a discovery that prompted Hernández to start wearing glasses, and keyed a sudden offensive turnaround in the second half of the season.
Turned out, Muncy had a similar problem. Though his vision was 20/12, astigmatism in his right eye had made him left-eye dominant, a subtle but limiting dynamic for a left-handed hitter.
Thus, on the last day of the month, Muncy also started wearing prescription-lensed glasses, and christened the new eyewear with a home run in his first game using them.
“It’s not necessarily something that I need,” Muncy said. “But just any chance at all it evens out both eyes for me, I’ve been taking it.”
Yet, in his first week using them, he still went just six-for-28 with nine strikeouts and only five walks. He was still grinding through his adjustments to his mechanics. He was still waiting for one swing where everything would feel synced up.
When Muncy came to the plate in that May 9 game against the Diamondbacks to face Ginkel, he surveyed the situation, put his swing mechanics out of his head, and tried to focus on only one objective.
“It was guy on second, no outs,” Muncy recalled, “so I was trying to give up the at-bat, get the ball on the ground to the right side of second base, and move the runner from second to third.”
Throughout his career, this is when Muncy is at his best. When his mind isn’t clouded by the pressure to produce, or the particulars of his swing. When he’s “going out there and just trying to play the situation,” he explained. “Like, ‘What is my at-bat calling for in this moment?’ ”
And on that day in Arizona, with the Dodgers trailing by one run in the ninth, that simplified mindset gave Muncy his moment of long-awaited clarity.
Ginkel threw a 95 mph fastball up near Muncy’s chest. The slugger hit it with the kind of quick, level swing he’d spent all winter attempting to craft.
As the ball rocketed through the right side of the infield for a game-tying single, Muncy felt a light bulb go off as he pulled into first base.
Fans cheer as the Dodgers' Max Muncy rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam on June 22 against the Washington Nationals. (Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)
“I was so short and direct to it, it just triggered something in my head,” Muncy said. “It kind of took all the stuff I’d been working on, even going back to the winter, and was like, ‘OK, this is how I’m trying to get it to feel.’ ”
Muncy hasn’t looked back ever since.
By being able to cover the top of the strike zone, he hasn’t had to cheat on fastballs or hunt on tougher pitches to hit around his knees. When coupled with the glasses that have helped him better differentiate velocity from spin, he’s been able to be selective and wait out mistakes.
“There’s been spells in his career where it was the three [true] outcomes and that was it,” Roberts said, long a believer in Muncy’s ability to be a more potent hit collector, rather than just a high-powered, high-strikeout slugging presence. "Now, I think he’s a complete hitter. So you see the runs batted in, the homers, the quality of at-bats all tick up."
During this torrid two-month stretch, highlights have come in bunches for Muncy. He’s had two seven-RBI games and another with six. He hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning against the New York Mets on June 3. He had two grand slams in the span of three games last week.
He has gone from the subject of trade deadline rumors to a fan-voting finalist to make the All-Star Game.
He knows it’s still only been two months; that, in a sport as fickle as baseball, the feeling he has discovered at the plate can just as quickly disappear again.
But for the first time in years, he’s healthy, in sync and possessing total clarity — in both vision and mind — every time he steps to the dish.
“This is definitely more of what I was envisioning,” Muncy said this weekend, reflecting back on the early-season struggles and laborious swing work over the winter that preceded his two-month tear.
“Now, I have the confidence to know I can accomplish pretty much anything I want to do for that situation. Whereas, before, you don’t always have that.”
The Detroit Red Wings traded right winger Vladimir Tarasenko to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for future considerations.
Tarasenko has one season left on a two-year contract with a $4.75-million cap hit. He heads to the Wild, his sixth NHL team since the start of 2022.
The 33-year-old spent the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues, which selected him 16th overall in the 2010 NHL draft. During that time, he won the Stanley Cup in 2019.
In his 11th season, the Blues traded him to the New York Rangers in January 2023. He played the rest of the season for the Blueshirts before signing a one-year contract with the Ottawa Senators in free agency.
After 57 games with the Senators, which were on their way to missing the playoffs, they traded Tarasenko to the Florida Panthers at the NHL trade deadline in 2023-24. Tarasenko had 14 points in 19 games with the Panthers before putting up five goals and nine points in 24 games en route to the Panthers' first-ever Stanley Cup championship.
Tarasenko signed with the Red Wings as a UFA in 2024. This past season, he recorded 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games, both career lows in seasons when he played at least 40 games. His average ice time of 14:47 was the lowest since his rookie campaign in 2012-13.
Now, the Red Wings made a cap dump by trading him to Minnesota. They now have nearly $23.2 million in projected cap space, according to PuckPedia. They have five pending UFAs, including Patrick Kane, and three pending RFAs, including Jonatan Berggren.
As for the Wild, they get a sniper who can play up and down the lineup and potentially bounce back from the relatively low production in 2024-25. His shooting percentage this past season was 8.3 percent, the second-lowest of his career, in which he usually scores on between 10 percent and 15 percent of his shots.
Right winger Gustav Nyquist is among Minnesota's pending UFAs, so if he's out, Tarasenko fits right in for improved depth and secondary scoring.
The Wild still have just under $13 million in projected cap space, with three pending depth UFAs and pending RFA Marco Rossi, who's been a subject of trade speculation.
Tarasenko, a 6-foot-1, 219-pound NHL veteran from Yaroslavl, Russia, has 304 goals and 358 assists for 662 points in 831 career regular-season games. He also has 49 goals and 73 points in 121 post-season contests. He was voted to the NHL's second all-star team in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and he's played in four NHL All-Star Games.
Tarasenko had been in the rumor mill since before the 2025 NHL trade deadline, as he just did not fit in well with the Red Wings. In 80 games with the Original Six club in 2024-25, he posted 11 goals, 33 points, and a minus-13 rating.
Tarasenko's goal will to now have a bounce-back season with the Wild from here. When looking at his past success, he undoubtedly has the potential to turn things back around. If he does, he could be a very solid addition to the Wild's middle six.
In 644 games over 11 seasons with the St. Louis Blues from 2012-13 to 2022-23, Tarasenko recorded 262 goals, 291 assists, 553 points, and a plus-57 rating. His time with the Blues ended when he was traded to the New York Rangers at the 2023 NHL trade deadline. Since then, he has had stops with the Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, and Red Wings. Now, he is heading to Minnesota.
Report: Blues Still Trying To Re-Sign Veteran ForwardSt. Louis Blues forward Radek Faksa is one of the team's most notable pending unrestricted free agents (UFA) with July 1 being just one day away. However, while the start of free agency is just about here, the possibility of him staying in St. Louis is still there.
Texas State is set to join the conference ahead of the 2026 football season as the Pac-12 continues to rebuild following its mass defections in the summer of 2024.
LeBron James broke with his tradition on Sunday, and that raised some eyebrows. First, he picked up his $52.6 million player option to return to the Lakers, a departure from his previous approach, which was to opt out of the contract, then renegotiate a two-year deal with the team (with a player option for the second year). Then his longtime friend and agent Rich Paul released this statement to ESPN:
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
"We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what's best for him."
All of that combined led some Lakers fans and NBA Twitter to handle things with their usual calm rationality. Which is to say, they freaked out and started coming up with fake LeBron trades (clickbait sites jumped all over the hypothetical trades). There was a good 24 hours of people freaking out. In league circles, people took notice, and it became a talking point. However, most were asking if this was the first step toward him looking for a trade, but more likely a year from now.
The reality as of today: LeBron James is a Laker, has not requested a trade, and almost certainly will be a Laker this season. Here are some things to consider when thinking about LeBron's next move.
• LeBron James has a long and storied history of passive-aggressive statements to try to get his teams to spend big or make trades in the offseason. He pushes them to contend now (and often not worry about the future). This is a well-worn path with him that dates back to Miami, and even his first stint in Cleveland. It's understandable from LeBron's perspective, he wants to play meaningful games and be on a contender entering one of his final seasons, and despite the 50 wins and the No. 3 seed a season ago, the playoffs showed LeBron and everyone the Lakers are not there yet. They need a rim-running center, and more 3&D-type players — such as Dorian Finney-Smith, who just opted out of his contract and the Lakers want to re-sign — and LeBron is pushing them down that road.
• LeBron understands that the Lakers are in transition. LeBron turns 41 in the middle of next season, Luka Doncic is 26 and just entering his prime. LeBron gets it, Doncic is the Lakers' future and the roster is going to be tweaked to fit his game. However, LeBron wants to contend with Doncic in Los Angeles this season, not play through a gap year while Los Angeles shifts to a roster built to maximize Doncic's skills. To be clear, neither the Lakers nor Doncic wants that gap year either, they all expect to contend next season.
• It's highly unlikely LeBron will be traded because he wants to contend and the Lakers are closer to that than any destination that would get gutted of talent trying to trade for him. ESPN's Bobby Marks put it this way Monday morning: There is no LeBron trade market.
Hypothetically, if he pushed for a trade, LeBron would find himself in the same situation as Giannis Antetokounmpo finds himself now: He can go to a team in the exceptionally deep West and try to beat out defending champs Oklahoma City, Houston with the addition of Kevin Durant, Minnesota and Anthony Edwards, Denver and Nikola Jokic, and the list goes on and on. Or, he could attempt to force his way back to the East, but to match his massive salary and give the Lakers what they want, LeBron's new team would be gutted and be less of a contender.
Let's take the trade fans gravitated toward Sunday: Sending LeBron back to Cleveland. It can be done with a combination of Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and either De'Andre Hunter or Max Strus. Cleveland gets worse in that trade. Fans seem to undersell both the value of Garland to the Cavaliers and seem to ignore the lessons of depth from this year's NBA finalists. People want to discount the Cavaliers' 64-win season because they lost to the Pacers in the second round, a series where Darius Garland tried to play through turf toe but was a shell of himself on both ends of the court, and that was just the start of a long list of injuries plaguing the Cavaliers (plus, it turns out the Pacers were very good by the end of the season).
Longtime Lakers reporter Jovan Buha said he heard Dallas "had buzz" as a potential trade partner, reuniting LeBron with guys he won rings with in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. Good luck making that work. First, Dallas didn't get old enough with the Davis for Luka swap? This would be a three-team (at least) trade that involves Dallas giving up Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson (if the Lakers want him, don't be so sure) and another player like Dwight Powell. Then the Mavs and LeBron need to wait for Irving to recover from his torn ACL, and hope Davis stays healthy. Is that what LeBron means by contender?
All of this is to say, don't expect a LeBron James trade anytime soon. Do look for the Lakers to get the message and try to spend to contend this season by acquiring a center — hello, DeAndre Ayton — and adding more wing depth.
PHOENIX — There’s never a good time to get drilled on the wrist, but the timing for Giants infielder Casey Schmitt couldn’t have been worse. Schmitt went on the IL on Monday a few days after getting hit, halting — at least for now — his best run as a big leaguer.
Schmitt was hit in the ninth inning of last Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins and had been unable to return to the lineup. An X-ray and CT scan last week came back clean, but the Giants sent Schmitt for an MRI on Monday in Arizona after he was unable to play during the series in Chicago.
Casey Schmitt and the Oracle Park crowd weren't happy after this hit by pitch 😡 pic.twitter.com/vIvGT1Vfbh
Schmitt said Monday that the MRI showed only a bone bruise, but it’s in a tricky spot. He’s able to hold a bat, but because the bruise is on the top of his hand, he is unable to swing pain-free.
Schmitt hit .375 with four homers and a 1.090 OPS in 14 games after taking over for the injured Matt Chapman at third base. He was playing so well at his natural position that it had become clear that he would become the starting second baseman whenever Chapman returned, which manager Bob Melvin said could be in a week for the start of the Giants’ homestand.
Schmitt still is the frontrunner to take that role, but his momentum has been stopped. With his IL stint retroactive to July 27, Schmitt should be back after 10 days on July 7 when the Giants play the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park — the same date Chapman could return.
Tyler Fitzgerald, the second baseman until recently, returned from Triple-A to take Schmitt’s roster spot. Fitzgerald was in the starting lineup at second on Monday, with Christian Koss starting at third.
It’s been a hectic start to the NBA offseason — and the action won’t be slowing down.
The 2025 NBA free agency period opened Monday as a long list of veterans hit the open market. The start of free agency comes less than a week after the 2025 NBA Draft was held.
From the best available players and more, here’s what to know about NBA free agency:
When does NBA free agency start in 2025?
Teams were allowed to start negotiating and striking deals with free agents from rival clubs starting at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT on Monday, June 30.
But contracts can’t be made official until Sunday, July 6.
What is the NBA salary cap in 2025-26?
The salary cap for 2025-26 is set at $154.6 million, the NBA confirmed Monday. That marks a roughly $14 million increase from last season.
Here’s a look at the top names on the open market. This list will be updated with reported deals as free agents get scooped up (players listed alphabetically by last name):
Guards
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Minnesota Timberwolves
Malik Beasley, Detroit Pistons
Malcolm Brogdon, Washington Wizards
Bruce Brown Jr., New Orleans Pelicans
Jared Butler, Philadelphia 76ers
Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz (buyout)
Spencer Dinwiddie, Dallas Mavericks
Dante Exum, Dallas Mavericks
Javonte Green, Cleveland Cavaliers
Josh Giddey, Chicago Bulls (restricted)
Eric Gordon, Philadelphia 76ers
Quentin Grimes, Philadelphia 76ers (restricted)
Tim Hardaway Jr., Detroit Pistons
Gary Harris, Orlando Magic
Aaron Holiday, Houston Rockets — reportedly re-signing with Rockets for 1 year, minimum
Ty Jerome, Cleveland Cavaliers
Tre Jones, Chicago Bulls
Cory Joseph, Orlando Magic
Luke Kennard, Memphis Grizzlies
Caris LeVert, Atlanta Hawks
Tre Mann, Charlotte Hornets
De’Anthony Melton, Brooklyn Nets
Chris Paul, San Antonio Spurs
Cameron Payne, New York Knicks
Gary Payton II, Golden State Warriors
Kevin Porter Jr., Milwaukee Bucks
Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets
Dennis Schröder, Detroit Pistons
Landry Shamet, New York Knicks
Cameron Thomas, Brooklyn Nets (restricted)
Gary Trent Jr., Milwaukee Bucks
Russell Westbrook, Denver Nuggets
Delon Wright, New York Knicks
Wings
Santi Aldama, Memphis Grizzlies (restricted) — reportedly re-signing with Grizzlies for 3 years, $52.5M
Nicolas Batum, Los Angeles Clippers — reportedly re-signing with Clippers for 2 years, $11.5M
Brandon Boston Jr., New Orleans Pelicans
Amir Coffey, Los Angeles Clippers
Dorian Finney-Smith, Los Angeles Lakers — reportedly signing with Rockets for 4 years, $53M
Jeff Green, Houston Rockets — reportedly re-signing with Rockets for 1 year, minimum
Caleb Houstan, Orlando Magic
Johnny Juzang, Utah Jazz
Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors (restricted)
It’s been a hectic start to the NBA offseason — and the action won’t be slowing down.
The 2025 NBA free agency period opened Monday as a long list of veterans hit the open market. The start of free agency comes less than a week after the 2025 NBA Draft was held.
From the best available players and more, here’s what to know about NBA free agency:
When does NBA free agency start in 2025?
Teams were allowed to start negotiating and striking deals with free agents from rival clubs starting at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT on Monday, June 30.
But contracts can’t be made official until Sunday, July 6.
What is the NBA salary cap in 2025-26?
The salary cap for 2025-26 is set at $154.6 million, the NBA confirmed Monday. That marks a roughly $14 million increase from last season.
Here’s a look at the top names on the open market. This list will be updated with reported deals as free agents get scooped up (players listed alphabetically by last name):
Guards
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Minnesota Timberwolves
Malik Beasley, Detroit Pistons
Malcolm Brogdon, Washington Wizards
Bruce Brown Jr., New Orleans Pelicans
Jared Butler, Philadelphia 76ers
Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz (buyout)
Spencer Dinwiddie, Dallas Mavericks
Dante Exum, Dallas Mavericks
Javonte Green, Cleveland Cavaliers
Josh Giddey, Chicago Bulls (restricted)
Eric Gordon, Philadelphia 76ers
Quentin Grimes, Philadelphia 76ers (restricted)
Tim Hardaway Jr., Detroit Pistons
Gary Harris, Orlando Magic
Aaron Holiday, Houston Rockets — reportedly re-signing with Rockets for 1 year, minimum
Ty Jerome, Cleveland Cavaliers
Tre Jones, Chicago Bulls
Cory Joseph, Orlando Magic
Luke Kennard, Memphis Grizzlies
Caris LeVert, Atlanta Hawks
Tre Mann, Charlotte Hornets
De’Anthony Melton, Brooklyn Nets
Chris Paul, San Antonio Spurs
Cameron Payne, New York Knicks
Gary Payton II, Golden State Warriors
Kevin Porter Jr., Milwaukee Bucks
Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets
Dennis Schröder, Detroit Pistons
Landry Shamet, New York Knicks
Cameron Thomas, Brooklyn Nets (restricted)
Gary Trent Jr., Milwaukee Bucks
Russell Westbrook, Denver Nuggets
Delon Wright, New York Knicks
Wings
Santi Aldama, Memphis Grizzlies (restricted) — reportedly re-signing with Grizzlies for 3 years, $52.5M
Nicolas Batum, Los Angeles Clippers — reportedly re-signing with Clippers for 2 years, $11.5M
Brandon Boston Jr., New Orleans Pelicans
Amir Coffey, Los Angeles Clippers
Dorian Finney-Smith, Los Angeles Lakers — reportedly signing with Rockets for 4 years, $53M
Jeff Green, Houston Rockets — reportedly re-signing with Rockets for 1 year, minimum
Caleb Houstan, Orlando Magic
Johnny Juzang, Utah Jazz
Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors (restricted)
Former Kings coach Mike Brown could be on his way to the East Coast.
The 55-year-old has emerged as a strong candidate for the New York Knicks head coaching vacancy and will take a second meeting with the franchise, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday, citing sources.
Mike Brown will have a second meeting with the New York Knicks for their head coaching job and has emerged as a strong candidate, sources tell ESPN.
As things stand, Brown appears to be a top target for the Knicks, who fired Tom Thibodeau on June 3 after New York was eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
Brown, the unanimous NBA Coach of the Year in 2022-23 after helping the Kings end the longest playoff drought in league history, was fired in late December after suffering a winless five-game homestand in Sacramento.
The timing of Brown’s dismissal — just five months after he signed a multiyear contract extension meant to keep him in Sacramento through the 2026-27 season — sent shockwaves throughout the league.
Brown is 454-304 in 11 seasons as an NBA head coach. He led the Kings in 31 games last season, recording a 13-18 record.
Now, it appears his lengthy coaching career could resume in New York.
The Buffalo Sabres are in the midst of a reshuffle of their roster for next season and the bottom end of their blueline is the area where the upheaval is the most stark. If you look at the turnover from the opening night roster last season, Dennis Gilbert was dealt to Ottawa along with Dylan Cozens for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker at the trade deadline, Connor Clifton was shipped to Pittsburgh for Conor Timmins, and Henri Jokiharju was sent to Boston for a 2026 fourth round pick.
Jokiharju, who was a pending unrestricted free agent when the Sabres traded him in March, re-signed with the Bruins on Monday to a three-year, $9 million contract extension. The 26-year-old had 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) in 60 games with Buffalo and Boston last season, and is expected to play on the Bruins bottom pairing
Acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019 in a swap for Alex Nylander, the former first-round pick had 81 points (19 goals, 62 assists) in 351 games over six seasons with the Sabres, playing at times with Dahlin on the club’s top pairing and higher in the lineup than maybe he should have because of a lack of options on the right side.
The Sabres at this point are going to look different on defense to start next season, with righties Michael Kesselring (acquired in the JJ Peterka deal last week), Timmins (a restricted free agent) and Bernard-Docker on the right side. There is still a possibility of more changes, as Mattias Samuelsson and/or Bowen Byram could be moved this summer, leaving only Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power as defensemen who are certain to be back.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo
"With the free-agent market due to open in a little more than 24 hours, the Maple Leafs are exploring whether they can get something done with pending UFA Steven Lorentz to keep him in Toronto," TSN and The Athletic's Chris Johnston reported on X.
Lorentz scored eight goals and 11 assists in 80 games with the Maple Leafs last season, setting a new career-high in assists and tying that in points. The fourth liner also had 199 hits in the regular season, the second-most behind defenseman Simon Benoit (204).
The 29-year-old didn't find the back of the net through the playoffs, but did have two assists in 13 games, both coming against the Florida Panthers in the second round. He was third on Toronto in hits in the playoffs with 42, trailing only Bobby McMann (49) and Max Pacioretty (61).
Lorentz, a lifelong Maple Leafs fan, signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with Toronto last October after entering the team's training camp on a professional tryout. He played with the Florida Panthers in the season prior and skated in 16 games for the club en route to their first Stanley Cup win.
The three former Panthers on Toronto—Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz—were presented with Stanley Cup rings ahead of their first game in Florida this past season on Nov. 27.
This news comes amidst a busy time in the NHL with one day remaining until free agency opens. Already being reported is that Toronto could be the frontrunners to land Brad Marchand if he doesn't re-sign in Florida. There's also the potential of a sign-and-trade involving Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Knies' deal is yet to be made official by Toronto.
TSN and The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun also reported that the Maple Leafs could be interested in pending UFA Michael Pezzetta when free agency opens. The 27-year-old was born in Toronto and didn't have a point in 25 games with the Montreal Canadiens last season.
He could fill the void that could come with Group 6 UFAs Alex Steeves and Nick Abruzzese, plus UFA Alex Nylander, potentially testing the open market. Pezzetta has 15 goals and 23 assists in 200 career NHL games with the Canadiens.
The Philadelphia Flyers desperately need their 2025 NHL draft class to be highly productive if their rebuild is going to show progression.
They took some big swings (Porter Martone) and some gambles (Jack Nesbitt) while adding some needed size. How it all turns out down the road will help define a franchise that has been stuck in neutral for way too long.
Brent Flahr, assistant GM, has had a mixed record since the Flyers hired him in December 2018 and have had him heading their draft board since 2019.
Hired by then-GM Chuck Fletcher, Flahr has overseen seven drafts with the Flyers, including this year’s.
During that time, he has had some good draft selections (Tyson Foerster in 2020), some puzzling ones (Cam York over Cole Caufield in 2019) and some that turned out superbly (Matvei Michkov in 2023).
He also made a wise choice, but as it turned out, set back the franchise by selecting Cutter Gauthier in 2022. Gauthier looks like a future star. The problem is he forced the Flyers to trade him because he didn’t want to play in Philadelphia.
Here’s a look at the Flahr-led drafts during his Flyers tenure:
2019
This will forever be known as the draft in which the Flyers bypassed Caufield. Twice.
In hindsight, the decision isn’t as disastrous because of Bobby Brink’s development. Still, the decision to bypass Caufield stings.
Caufield was an electric scorer going into that draft, but the Flyers questioned his lack of size at 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds. He has proven his stature didn’t matter.
The right winger, drafted 15th overall, has been a big-time scorer for the Montreal Canadiens ever since he became a full-time player in 2021-22. In the past four seasons, he has scored 23, 26, 28 and 37 goals for the Canadiens.
Instead of drafting Caufield, Fletcher made two deals and got two players early in the 2019 draft: York and Brink. The latter is a smallish player regarded as Caufield lite. York is still developing but has been mediocre, while Brink had 12 goals and 41 points last season, both career bests.
Would you rather have York and Brink over Caufield? Probably not.
Flahr gets a C-minus in this draft.
2020
Flahr took right winger Foerster at 23rd overall. Defenseman Emil Andrae was taken 54th and has a chance to be a regular.
You can quibble that the Flyers should have taken right winger JJ Peterka instead of Foerster, but the latter has been very solid. Peterka, a German, was taken 34th overall by the Buffalo Sabres and has scored 28 and 27 goals over the past two seasons, respectively. Foerster scored 20 goals as a rookie and 25 goals last season.
Give Flahr a B-plus for his first-round pick in this draft.
2021
The Flyers didn’t have a first-rounder in this draft but selected Samu Tuomaala in the second round and goalie Aleksei Kolosov in the third.
Among the players who were available when Tuomaala was chosen 46th overall: Matthew Knies (29 goals this past season with the Toronto Maple Leafs), Logan Stankoven (14 goals) and productive defenseman J.J. Moser. Tuomaala has been up and down with the AHL Lehigh Valley.
For the Flyers, this draft included Gauthier (fifth overall) and Alex Bump (fifth round, 133rd overall).
In fairness, Gauthier didn’t tell the Flyers he didn’t want to play for them until a few months after the NHL draft, so Flahr and the rest of the draft board should be absolved. If they had known, the Flyers might have chosen center Marco Kasper, who went eighth to the Detroit Red Wings. That would have changed the dynamics of where the center-needy Flyers are today.
In his first full season, Kasper had 19 goals last year and blossomed into the Red Wings’ No. 2 center.
Give Flahr a B-plus for this draft.
2023
This is Flahr’s best draft. By far.
Besides taking star-in-the-making Michkov with the seventh overall pick, the Flyers added to their future nucleus by drafting Oliver Bonk (first round, 22nd overall), Carson Bjarnason (second round), Denver Barkey (third round) and goalie Egor Zavragin (third round).
Bravo, Mr. Flahr. He gets an A-plus for this draft.
2024
Speedy center Jett Luchanko (13th overall) was the Flyers’ top pick, and the jury is still out on him after a strong OHL season in 2024-25. He doesn’t turn 19 until Aug. 21. Flahr’s grade for this draft is incomplete.
2025
The Flyers chose right winger Martone sixth overall, and the power forward has drawn comparisons to the hard-nosed Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady, so it’s hard to argue with the pick.
That said, Philly desperately needed a future No.1 center, and bypassing James Hagens raised some eyebrows. Philadelphia fans will watch closely the development of Martone and Hagens.
Flahr’s biggest gamble was trading two late first-round picks to the Pittsburgh Penguins to move up to No. 12, where the Flyers selected 6-foot-5 center Nesbitt. Most draft experts rated in the mid-20s to high 30s – Ryan Kennedy had him ranked 20th, while Tony Ferrari had him 51st. He is regarded as a future third-line center.
Flahr’s grade for this draft won’t be known for a few years. He did add size – lots of size – and talent later in the draft, so the hope is that not getting a future No. 1 center won’t haunt him.
It's Monday, June 30 and the Reds (44-40) are in Boston to take on the Red Sox (41-44). Chase Burns is slated to take the mound for Cincinnati against Garrett Crochet for Boston.
Burns' debut in the Major League was phenomenal. He struck out the first five batters he faced. While Jacob Misiorowski is the favorite to win NL ROY, Burns is the third favorite at +900.
The Red Sox are fourth in the AL East and have played poorly. They have only won three of their last 10 games, and have lost their last three series.
The Reds are four games over .500, but are just fourth in the NL Central. With Burns on the mound for them, they hope to start the series strong with a win.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
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Odds for the Reds at the Red Sox
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Reds (+157), Red Sox (-189)
Spread: Red Sox -1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Reds at Red Sox
Pitching matchup for June 30, 2025: Chase Burns vs. Garrett Crochet
Reds: Chase Burns, (0-0, 5.40 ERA) Last outing (New York Yankees, 6/24): 5.0 Innings Pitched, 3 Earned Runs Allowed, 6 Hits Allowed, 0 Walks, and 8 Strikeouts
Red Sox: Garrett Crochet, (7-4, 2.06 ERA) Last outing (Los Angeles Angels, 6/24): 7.0 Innings Pitched, 0 Earned Runs Allowed, 3 Hits Allowed, 3 Walks, and 10 Strikeouts
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries, and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions, and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Reds at Red Sox
The Red Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 home games
The Over is 7-3 in the Reds' last 10 road games
The Reds have covered in 4 of their last 5 on the road, profiting 2.71 units
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline, and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Reds and the Red Sox
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread, and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information, and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Reds and the Red Sox:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Boston Red Sox on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Cincinnati Reds at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
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Kevon Looney has left the only NBA franchise he has known for the past decade, agreeing to a two-year, $16 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans in free agency, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday, citing sources.
Free agent center Kevon Looney has agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, sources tell ESPN. Life Sports Agency CEO Todd Ramasar and the Pelicans reached a deal tonight for the three-time NBA champion who departs Golden State after 10 years. pic.twitter.com/FAvVBa4Tk6
Looney, affectionately known by Dub Nation as “Loon,” was selected No. 30 overall by Golden State in the 2015 NBA Draft and went on to become a fan favorite as a three-time champion with the Warriors.
The 29-year-old center has dealt with various injuries throughout his 10-season career, from surgeries for hip and core muscle issues to a neuropathic condition that threatened his career — all the while pushing through to become Golden State’s dependable Iron Man. Despite all the setbacks, Looney evolved into one of the Warriors’ most reliable players and played in 290 consecutive games from March 20, 2021, to March 8, 2024.
Looney leaves the Warriors just one contest shy of 600 regular-season games with Golden State, averaging 5.0 points on 57.5-percent shooting from the field with 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17.2 minutes across those 599 appearances.
The big man appeared in 89 NBA playoff games with the Warriors and started 27, most notably shutting down the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2022 Western Conference semifinals with 8.2 rebounds per game and providing stellar defense on superstars like James Harden and Anthony Davis early in Golden State’s dynastic run.
When the 2024-25 NBA season ended, Looney said he already had preliminary discussions with the Warriors’ front office about returning and felt optimistic that a deal would get done. But after a decade in this league, Looney knew that nothing is guaranteed.
“But it’s the NBA, things always change, especially when you don’t win it all,” Looney said. “I’m just ready for whatever.
“They’re going to try to do whatever is best to make the team better. Hopefully I’m in those plans.”
Even though things didn’t pan out between Golden State and Looney, when all is said and done, there is no Warriors dynasty without him. But now, he will continue his successful NBA career on a new team — and Dub Nation certainly hopes Loon’s new fanbase appreciates him like they did.
