A scrappy, smart defensive player in his formative years, a late growth spurt and shrewd coaching have honed the 23-year-old Briton into an opponent others now fear
Towards the end of 2018, a relatively unknown 16-year-old British tennis player took some of his first strides on the professional tennis circuit in a $15,000 (£11,000) tournament in Lagos, Nigeria on the ITF World Tennis Tour. Earlier that summer, Jack Draper had offered a glimpse into his considerable potential with a run to the Wimbledon boys’ final and his encouraging first tussles against adult opposition had earned him a modest ATP ranking of No 623. “I was very different then,” Draper says, smiling. “A bit of a maniac, to be honest.”
Those experiences were key in his development for various reasons. He ended that tournament by winning his third consecutive title, offering him more reason to believe he was on the right path. Along the way, he gained some essential perspective. “I’d have a wet [racket] grip, because it was so humid there. I’d put it in a bin and the kids were fighting over it. Just the energy from the people there, they were really passionate about tennis,” says Draper. “To go to those sorts of places was definitely … going from the UK and having a lot of, I guess, things given to me, it definitely helped the way I saw life.”
Angels right fielder LaMonte Wade Jr. makes a sliding catch during the eighth inning of a 15-9 loss to the Washington Nationals at Angel Stadium on Friday night. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
Game 81. The halfway point of the 2025 season arrived at Angel Stadium — and the Angels, albeit squarely in contention at .500, were dealing with a bit of organizational uncertainty.
Bench coach Ray Montgomery took over the reins on June 20 as the acting — now interim — manager as the Angels entered Friday as winners in seven of their last 10 games.
The Angels are in a much better spot than 2024. This time last season, after game 81, they were 11 games under .500 — squarely out of the postseason hunt.
Friday, however, even after losing 15-9 in a three-hour, 11-minute slog of a series opener against the Washington Nationals (34-48), the Angels (40-41) still are just two games out of the third American League wild card spot.
In a game where the Angels and Nationals combined for 24 runs and 30 hits — with the 19 hits and 15 runs given up by the Angels’ pitching staff representing season-worst marks — what ultimately separated the teams was the Angels' inability to come through with runners on base.
In the sixth and seventh innings — down one and two runs, respectively — the Angels had opportunities to take the lead or tie the game with runners in scoring position, but failed to capitalize. From there, the Nationals' lead would grow, with Hunter Strickland giving up four runs in the ninth as part of a 10-run barrage against the Angels' bullpen.
In the early innings, the Angels had plenty of opportunities against Nationals starting pitcher Jake Irvin, who struggled against the heart of the lineup.
Jo Adell struck a 92-mph fastball high and away to right field for a solo home run — his 18th overall and 11th in June — in the second. An inning later, Nolan Schanuel and Taylor Ward received hanging breaking balls — a high curveball and slider, respectively — and pulled the ball for short-porch home runs.
Three home runs across three innings helped the Angels build a three-run lead. Across 4 ⅓ innings of work against Irvin, the Angels' lineup continued to click. They tallied nine runs (eight earned to Irvin) on nine hits — just enough for an early lead as José Soriano tossed his worst outing of the season.
Soriano couldn’t exit the fifth against the Nationals. The shutdown pitching he had featured in his last three starts — giving up just two runs across 20 ⅔ innings — looked like a distant memory. The right-hander struck out four and walked two, while giving up eight earned runs and nine hits.
Angels shortstop Zach Neto (shoulder) returned to action, striking out in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter.
Before the game, Neto said that he’d likely be able to hit before throwing — something he’s yet to do — after jamming his shoulder on a stolen base attempt Tuesday.
Henry Brzustewicz, left, stands with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman after being selected by the Kings at No. 31 overall in the NHL draft at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
For Ken Holland, the Kings’ decidedly old-school general manager, new isn’t necessarily better. Take the NHL draft, for example.
Holland presided over more than a quarter-century of drafts with the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers, and they were generally held in one place, with everyone from the executives doing the drafting to the players being drafted on site.
On Friday, for the first time in a non-pandemic environment, the draft was conducted semi-remotely, with the top 93 draft-eligible players and their families filling some of the seats in the half-empty Peacock Theater in Los Angeles while team representatives made their selections from their home markets.
And whatever the league was attempting to accomplish with the decentralized format, other than saving on travel, it didn’t work.
After each pick was announced on a giant video board that took up two-thirds of the theater’s massive stage, players made their way up the aisle to be greeted by Commissioner Gary Bettman. They then pulled on a team jersey and hat before being led into the "Draft House" — a small virtual reality room in the center of the stage — for what amounted to a congratulatory Zoom call with the club’s brass.
The Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles hosts the NHL draft. (Juan Ocampo / NHLI via Getty Images)
The young men were celebrating the biggest moment of their lives yet they came off like Dorothy speaking to the Wizard of Oz. Much of it was awkward, especially when James Hagens, the eighth selection, was left waving at Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney after the audio in the Bruins’ war room in Boston went mute. That was just one of multiple technical glitches that included echoes and timing delays that left players and executives talking over one another.
When it became obvious the painfully slow-paced event would plod past 4½ hours, the Draft House was closed to some teams.
Brady Martin, the fifth pick, didn’t even bother to come to L.A. So when Nashville announced his selection — via a celebrity video taped at a golf course — the NHL showed a video of Martin working on his family’s farm. Russian goaltender Pyotr Andreyanov wouldn’t even get that treatment. When he was announced as the 20th overall pick, the NHL had nothing to show, making Andreyanov the first no-show of the no-show draft.
Matthew Schaefer, a 17-year-old defenseman from Hamilton, Canada,, who was taken with the No. 1 pick by the New York Islanders, said being part of video draft did not spoil his big day.
Matthew Schaefer stands between Michael Misa, left, and Anton Frondell after being selected 1-2-3, respectively, in the NHL draft at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Friday. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
“I'm just honored to be picked,” said Schaefer who cried, alongside his dad and brother, when his name was called. “I dreamt about it my whole life. It’s such an honor. Especially the first pick overall.”
For Holland, however, none of that counts as progress.
“I’m old and I’m old fashioned. So I like the old way,” said the Kings general manager, whose view was shared by other GMs around the league. “You draft some player in the sixth round and all of a sudden you hear ‘yay!’ way up in the corner. It’s him, it’s his family, and they’re all excited to hear [his] name announced by an NHL team.
“This weekend, to me, is about the young players.”
Aside from the technical difficulties, the actual draft went largely to form. The Ducks, as expected, took Roger McQueen, an 18-year-old forward from Saskatchewan, with their top pick, the 10th overall selection. The Kings, meanwhile, traded their first pick, No. 24 overall, to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After moving down seven spots they took right-handed-shooting defenseman Henry Brzustewicz, 18, a Minnesota native, with the penultimate pick of the first day.
Round two through seven of the draft will be conducted Saturday.
Roger McQueen, second from right, poses for photos with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and actors Joshua Jackson, left, and Marguerite Moreau, second from left, after being drafted by the Ducks at No. 10 overall. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
The Ducks, who had a top-10 pick for a seventh straight year, see the 6-foot-5 McQueen as a raw talent who can develop into a top-line center.
“He has a big body. But what goes along with that is his skill and skating ability,” said general manager Pat Verbeek, whose team has 10 picks this weekend.
For the Kings, this draft was the first public move in what could be an intense couple of weeks. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and winger Andrei Kuzmenko are unrestricted free agents and the team would like to re-sign both before they hit the open market Tuesday.
“If we re-sign Gavrikov, there’s not going to be a ton of change,” Holland said. “If we don’t, then there’s going to be change.”
Gavrikov, 29, emerged as a solid presence on the blue line, playing a career-high 82 games and posting the best goals-against average of the 17 defensemen to play at least 1,500 minutes. Former Kings GM Rob Blake made Gavrikov a contract offer last March, said Holland, who has since sweetened the deal twice. Replacing him, the GM said, could require a couple of signings.
Kuzmenko, 29, reenergized the offense after coming over from Philadelphia at the trade deadline, with the Kings going 17-5 and averaging nearly four goals a game down the stretch.
Kings fans cheer after Henry Brzustewicz is drafted by the team at No. 31 overall. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
“We like Kuzmenko. Kuzmenko likes it here; he likes his role,” Holland said. “I’m talking to him. I talked two, three, four times this week with his agent. So we’ll see.”
Signing both players would put a big dent in the Kings’ $21.7 million in salary-cap space.
“We have a lot of cap space but it doesn’t take much and it’s gone,” Holland said. “We’ve got to figure out how we want to spend our money and they need to figure out how much money they can get.”
Aside from Gavrikov and Kuzmenko, the Kings don’t have many loose ends to tie up. The team is confident it can get forward Alex Laferriere, a restricted free agent, to agree to a short-term deal and it has to decide whether to re-sign David Rittich, an unrestricted free agent, as the backup to starting goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper.
Two players who could be moving on are forward Tanner Jeannot and defenseman Jordan Spence, both of whom are looking for more ice time and may have to leave to get it.
ST.
LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues were left out of the Friday trades in
the NHL but added what they hope is their next version of a pure goal
scorer.
The
Blues selected right wing Justin Carbonneau with the No. 19 pick of
the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday in Los Angeles, hoping they will one day
in the not-too-distant future have a quality franchise-grown player
become the next Blues great.
Carbonneau,
18, is 6-foot-2, 205 pounds who had 89 points (46 goals, 43 assists)
in 62 games for Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Maritimes
Junior Hockey League. His 89 points were second in the league.
Carbonneau
scored 77 goals the past two seasons and had 148 points in 130 games.
“I’m
not a big crying guy, but all the emotions that went through my head
when I heard my name, I thought about my parents, my brother,
everybody that was here with me,” Carbonneau said. “My guys, my
teammates in Blainville. I’m grateful to have them here every
single day. They shoot me some texts about the draft and can’t wait
to just call them and meet my family too. I cried a bit thinking
about all that, but right now, it’s just pure happiness.
“It’s
cool to be drafted and it’s a great opportunity, but to be honest,
I didn’t really cry because of the rank or whatever. I think the
team first of all, it’s incredible to be in St. Louis. Second of
all, I talked about it, but to see my family like this, also proud
because they have done so much for me over the last few years. They
got early at the rink and sometimes you don’t listen to them when
you’re younger after a game and all that. They helped me a lot
along the way. Their thing is just my teammates in Blainville, it’s
cliché to say things about my teammates, but I would not be here
without them today. They help me every single day to be a better
teammate, a better player, a better scorer, better leader every
single day. There’s different guys being there that help me be the
player and the person I am today for the last three years. When I got
drafted, it made me think about that. Some good flashbacks. It was
emotional, but it was pretty good.”
Carbonneau
is a shooter and stick handler, and doesn’t shy away from doing the
things that have netted him 77 goals at the junior level the past two
seasons.
“I
destroyed my whole house when I was younger shooting pucks,”
Carbonneau said. “I was walking with some roller blades all day
since I was like five years old. My floors, I had to change it too.
It’s been something I’ve been working on since I was young, just
shooting the puck, walking around with some roller blades, all those
things. I think my skills came from a long time ago, but I still work
on them every single day.”
And
this is why the Blues had Carbonneau ranked high on their draft
board.
“He's
a goal scorer,” Blues
general manager Doug Armstrong said.
“He's someone that enjoys the fruits of his labors of scoring
goals, someone I think in a league that is going toward goal-scoring,
he brings us another element when you stack that on some of the guys
that we have right now. He's a good complement with [Jimmy]
Snuggerud,
[Jordan]
Kyrou
and [Zack]
Bolduc,
‘Buch’ and ‘Holly’ who can score goals. You add another
player to that.
“Our
goal is to be a three-line scoring team and this gives us an
opportunity. Now saying that, I don't expect him to be filling the
net with regularity for a few years, so guys will mature out and do
other things. It just gives us another option in another area that's
hard to do.”
Carbonneau
said he fits in the mold of an Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings
and Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers, guys that like to play
between the dots and play physical to get there. Carbonneau has some
football background in his profile.
“I
think his size, speed and shot,” Carbonneau said of Kempe. “I
think I bring that, and Konecny, his mindset. I’m not scared of
anyone. I score goals in the paint and dirty areas. He’s 5-8 or
5-10, and he shoots the puck and he goes to the net and doesn’t
care about getting hit or slashed or whatever. It’s always his
mentality, something I want to bring too.
“I
wouldn’t call it maybe a career, but I just play football. I used
to play running back. I stopped a few years ago, but I just like the
contact, like on the ice a little bit. I like to get hit, I like to
throw some hits. It’s a part of my game. I play inside (the) dots,
I don’t play outside. Yes, I score goals and I make plays
offensively, but I do it the right way. I do it strong on my stick
and I can relate to my running back when I played. I had some fun
playing football.”
Playing
strong-minded and a between-the-dots player has always been in
Carbonneau’s DNA.
“I
think that I always had it in me. I play with a lot of fire,” he
said. “I’m not really scared of anyone. I know that the 6-8 guys
are stronger probably than me and bigger, but I’m going to still
try, I think I always had that in me. Goals are scored in those
areas. Outside dots, yes, you can score some goals, but you’re not
going to score 50 goals from outside the dots, you’re going to
score inside the dots. You have to find ways to get there and I use
my body and my speed to get there. It’s important if you want to
score goals like a goal-scorer like me.”
Armstrong
said that the Blues considered moving up as well as moving back in
the draft, especially if Carbonneau was off the board as the last
player the Blues had in their block of players they had considered
where they picked.
“The
top 10 went, not in the exact order we had them, but the spray
started after 10,” Armstrong
said.
“I think the mock drafts had him somewhere (Nos.) 14-18, so we
thought that he would be a little bit of a stretch but he might get
to us.
“I
think it was a difficult year to move up because we didn't have a
second, third or fourth. We don't have a second next year because we
had to trade it to get a second this year, so the game plays on. If
we were going to move up, we were going to have to use our pick, plus
someone that we've drafted that we've already put money into develop
and it would've had to take us to a different block. We didn't see
that. We did talk to a couple of teams that if a player in our block
wasn't there, and ‘Carbo’ was the last player in our block, if he
wasn't there, we would've considered moving back, but only a couple
of slots. When you're looking at 19, we wouldn't
have gone to 27 or 28. We might've been able to go to 22 or 23, and
acquire a late second or a third and cross your fingers that you
don't lose three guys in five picks. We didn't have to do that
because at 19, there was a player that we were excited about in our
block.”
Carbonneau
had met with the Blues prior to the draft at the combine, feeling it
would be a good spot for him to land but also open to wherever he
went and whoever took him.
“I
spoke with the Blues this year,” he
said.
“I spoke with the mental coach a few hours this year to kind of get
with my mindset and all that, and at the combine, I had a good
meeting with them too. Some good talks and good people in St. Louis.
It’s going to be fun to meet them the next few days.”
Carbonneau
will be in St. Louis beginning Monday for a four-day developmental
camp, then the two sides will decide on where he will play next
season. His choices are Boston College or back in junior.
“We've
always tried to listen to the player and tell him that we're in this
for the marathon and what does he think is best for him -- how is he
going to mature,” Armstrong
said.
“I've never in my experience as a manager asked a team to trade a
player or told a player where to go because if it doesn't work out,
he puts it on your plate. These guys, they're young men, 18-19 years
old. They have to do what they think is right for them. We know that
he wants to be an NHL hockey player, there are different avenues to
do it, and we're going to support whatever he does. Like we did with
‘Snuggy,’ we wanted ‘Snuggy’ to turn pro -- he knew that, we
knew that. He wanted to go back and as soon as he said he was going
back, our attention turned to him having the best year he could have
at Minnesota and I think it worked out. We gained his trust by not
trying to strong-arm him and he rewarded us with a great season at
Minnesota, turning pro and being ready. So what we try and do is work
with them, but allow them to make their own decisions.”
Carbonneau
said he’s open-minded.
“That’s
one of the topics to talk with the Blues,” he said. “It’s
Boston College, great option for me next year to develop with older
guys and all that. Or Blainville. But my goal is to bring a Stanley
Cup. Maybe not next year, but I’ll get there. When you have the
mindset and you’re willing to do it, I’m not worried about it. If
I play in Blainville, same thing. Winning a Cup with a championship
team. Two good options, but some talks that I’m going to do with
St. Louis and decide in the next few days.”
Jonah Tong continues to rise up the ranks of Mets prospects with his performance in Double-A this season, and Friday was another quality outing for the right-hander.
Tong struck out eight batters across six innings while allowing one run on three hits and three walks. While Tong didn't come away with the win, the Rumble Ponies pulled out the 3-1 win on Friday against Portland.
After Friday's start, Tong lowered his ERA slightly to a season-low 1.73 and has pitched to a minuscule 0.93 ERA in the month of June (five starts). In those five June starts, Tong has struck out at least eight batters in four of them.
Behind Tong, the offense was solid, accumulating eight hit,s including one from Jett Williams and two from Carson Benge. Benge made his fourth start with Double-A Binghamton on Friday and after going hitless in his first two games, he's now had at least one knock in back-to-back games. It's also notable that Benge, despite his two hitless games, has reached back in all four games with Binghamton as he's picked up five walks in that span.
Jonah Tong struck out 8 in 6 innings of one-run ball for Binghamton tonight
Checking in with Triple-A Syracuse, Nolan McLean continues his rise up the Mets' farm system with another solid start on Friday.
Although he took the loss, McLean was sharp, allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks across six innings of work. He also struck out four batters.
In nine appearances (seven starts) with Syracuse, McLean has pitched to a 2.72 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. While he has not been a strikeout machine (45 strikeouts across 49.2 innings) in Triple-A, he has the potential to be better. Before being promoted, McLean struck out 30 batters in 26.1 innings with Binghamton.
Behind McLean, the offense was quiet. Syracuse picked up just one run on six hits and the litany of hitters with major league experience all went hitless. Luisangel Acuña finished 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout, while Francisco Alvarez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. The former Mets backstop is hitless in five games (0-for-14).
Take another name off the potential free agent board.
Naz Reid and the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. This keeps a key part of Minnesota's roster in place, a group that has advanced to back-to-back Western Conference Finals.
Ried will decline his $15 million player option as part of this contract extension. That was expected, and other teams were eyeing the 2024 Sixth Man of the Year, with Chrania describing a "vibrant market developing" willing to pay in the neighborhood of what the Timberwolves paid to keep him, but with some teams offering a starting role. Detroit, a team looking for a stretch big, was one team consistently mentioned as interested in Reid. (As of this writing, only Brooklyn would have the cap space to make that kind of offer, but other teams could get there if they wanted.)
Reid, 25, averaged 14.2 points and six rebounds a game for the Timberwolves last season. He shot 37.9% from beyond the arc, providing a change of pace from starting center Rudy Gobert. Reid also stepped up with some big games in Minnesota's playoff runs.
Minnesota is not done with questions about re-signing big men. They need to decide on Julius Randle, who has a $30.9 million player option that must be picked up by Sunday. He is also seeking an extension.
Take another name off the potential free agent board.
Naz Reid and the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. This keeps a key part of Minnesota's roster in place, a group that has advanced to back-to-back Western Conference Finals.
Ried will decline his $15 million player option as part of this contract extension. That was expected, and other teams were eyeing the 2024 Sixth Man of the Year, with Chrania describing a "vibrant market developing" willing to pay in the neighborhood of what the Timberwolves paid to keep him, but with some teams offering a starting role. Detroit, a team looking for a stretch big, was one team consistently mentioned as interested in Reid. (As of this writing, only Brooklyn would have the cap space to make that kind of offer, but other teams could get there if they wanted.)
Reid, 25, averaged 14.2 points and six rebounds a game for the Timberwolves last season. He shot 37.9% from beyond the arc, providing a change of pace from starting center Rudy Gobert. Reid also stepped up with some big games in Minnesota's playoff runs.
Minnesota is not done with questions about re-signing big men. They need to decide on Julius Randle, who has a $30.9 million player option that must be picked up by Sunday. He is also seeking an extension.
After a long night of anticipation, the Pittsburgh Penguins made what is presumed to be their final draft selection in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
With the 24th overall pick, the Penguins selected center Will Horcoff out of the University of Michigan.
Horcoff, 18, recorded four goals and 10 points in 18 games with Michigan last season. The 6-foot-5, 203-pound centerman may not be known for his footspeed, but he plays a physical, straightforward game, and he has a shot that could play at the NHL level.
Horcoff's father, Shawn, played parts of 15 seasons in the NHL for the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and Anaheim Ducks from 2000-16. Drafted in the fourth round (99th overall) by the Oilers in 1998, Shawn registered 186 goals and 511 points in 1,008 NHL games.
Dubas and the Penguins - after their trade earlier in the draft that sent the 12th overall pick from the New York Rangers to the Philadelphia Flyers for picks 22 and 31 - traded up to 24 for Horcoff. While he wasn't rated super high on draft boards, the Penguins clearly valued center depth.
Overall, I like this selection. The Penguins got size and upside with this pick, which never hurts.
Steve Smith is poised to return to Australia’s XI for the second Test against the West Indies in Grenada starting Friday, according to Australian head coach Andrew McDonald.
A few notes on free agency, the coaching search and the Raptors...
The Knicks are at $199,779,182 in team salary, per Yossi Gozlan’s on the capsheets.com website.
This leaves them roughly $8 million shy of the second apron and roughly $4 million over the first apron.
They can use the $5.6M taxpayer exception to sign free agents. Contracts signed with this exception can be no longer than two years and contain five percent raises. You can split the exception to sign multiple players.
If they decline PJ Tucker’s option, the Knicks could also sign-and-trade their free agents to bring back a player under contract, making up to the $5.6 million exception.
If you use the exception to sign a free agent, you are hard-capped at the second apron. This means you can’t spend more than $207.8 million in team salary. At their current team salary, the Knicks are roughly $8 million below the second apron.
The Knicks can also use the veteran’s minimum exception to sign free agents.
So, they have a couple of tools at their disposal in free agency.
Who are possible targets?
I think the Knicks will take a look at the guard market for a bench player. Also, ESPN reports that Celtics veteran Al Horford will have a robust market this offseason. I think the Knicks will also at least check in on Horford’s situation in Boston. The Celtics shed salary by trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis and they certainly want Horford back, but are limited in what they can offer the veteran big man.
Just as an aside: Horford has a close relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Knicks also have to decide on Ariel Hukporti’s team option for 2025-26. (Logic says they will pick it up, unless they have a bigger move in mind that requires more financial flexibility.)
What about rookie Mohamed Diawara? The Knicks could use the second-round exception to sign him, but that would put them $1.3 million closer to the second apron. They could also sign Diawara to a two-way deal.
Mar 30, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego reacts against the Charlotte Hornets during the first half at Smoothie King Center. / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
COACHING SEARCH
James Borrego is the fourth known interview the Knicks have conducted for their head-coaching search. Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins and Micah Nori have also interviewed for the job. I’d be lying if I said I knew where things stood entering the weekend, but I know Brown has made a good impression during the interview process and garnered support.
The Knicks have also had interest in Billy Donovan and Jason Kidd. Donovan reportedly has agreed with the Bulls on an extension. Mavericks GM Nico Harrison said definitively on Wednesday that Kidd would be coaching in Dallas next season. I still expect the Knicks to end up with a coach with prior head-coaching experience.
SHAKEUP IN TORONTO
The Raptors parted ways with lead executive Masai Ujiri on Friday. Opposing executives have long believed that the Raptors’ new majority ownership, Rogers Communications, could make a change at the top with Ujiri. Raptors officials downplayed the possibility, with Ujiri saying in April that everything was operating normally under the new structure. Ujiri was under contract for one more season.
The speculation around his future stemmed, in part, from some previous disagreements between Ujiri and executives from Rogers. It also stemmed, in part, due to the sentiment that the Rogers ownership would be hesitant to pay Ujiri the large salary that he was earning on his current deal.
Ujiri is reportedly earning $15 million per year. The team announced that general manager Bobby Webster was given a contract extension.
The Raptors finished 30-52 last season and missed the playoffs.
“We are confident that the Raptors organization, under the guidance of Bobby and his team, is in a great place,” Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley said in a statement. “They have a plan in place for next season and beyond as the team continues its rebuild, and we have confidence in their ability to execute and ultimately, to excel.”
Ujiri built the Raptors into an NBA champion (2019). He joined the Raptors in 2013 as executive vice president and general manager. He was promoted to team president in 2017 and Webster assumed GM duties.
On Saturday, Day 2 of the 2025 NHL Draft will begin at noon ET and feature Rounds 2-7. The New Jersey Devils have seven selections, including two in the second round. Below are all the picks the club will begin the day with. Round 250th overall 63rd overall (from Edmonton Oilers via Utah Mammoth)
Round 390th overall (from Vegas Golden Knights)
Round 4
99th overall (from Nashville Predators)114th overall Round 6161st overall (from San Jose Sharks)178th overall
**The Devils did not have a first-round selection as their 2025 pick was traded to the Calgary Flames as part of last season’s Jacob Markstrom trade.
It is worth noting that Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft proved to be a busy one for the Devils. It was on that day the club acquired forward Paul Cotter from the Vegas Golden Knights and sent defenseman John Marino to the Utah Mammoth with a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft for a second-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2025.
After a disappointing playoff exit in a Round 1 series against the Carolina Hurricanes, changes are expected. Thus far, general manager Tom Fitzgerald signed forward Juho Lammikko to a one-year, one-way contract worth $800,000 and traded veteran Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators for Jeremy Hanzel and a fourth-round pick in 2025 NHL Draft.
With regards to Devils restricted free agent (RFA) Cody Glass, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman provided an update on the 26-year-old center.
"New Jersey indicated that they weren't going to qualify him," Friedman said on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. "I think their goal was to sign him to a smaller deal that wasn't as high as an arbitration number or qualifying number. I have heard there is a lot of interest in Glass, a right-shot center. Obviously, he is not going to break the bank or anything like that, but I heard it is going to be hard for the Devils to be able to do that."
Glass is one of three RFAs joining defenseman Luke Hughes and forward Nolan Foote. The list of unrestricted free agents (UFAS) include Nathan Bastian, Justin Dowling, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, Brian Dumoulin, and Jake Allen.
Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
There was little reason to believe that Will Warren would provide much length. The pitch count told the story on Friday night -- the Yankees' right-hander needed a whopping 36 pitches to complete a peculiar first inning against the Athletics that included three walks and three strikeouts.
But the shaky start to Warren's outing didn't perturb him or force early movement in the bullpen. The rookie proceeded to throw 39 pitches across his next three innings, and his seven strikeouts over five scoreless frames did just the trick in the team's decently paced 3-0 victory in the Bronx.
The recovery job demonstrated further growth from Warren, who passed another big-league test as a reliable arm in the Yankees' rotation. He finished June with a sharp 2.86 ERA (five starts, 28.1 innings), and among AL pitchers who've logged at least 80 innings, his K/9 rate (11.54) currently ranks first.
"It's baseball. [That first inning] is going to happen. You try to take the positives," Warren said after the win. "Sometimes I'm good at executing the corners. Tonight, I was kind of spraying the ball a little bit. So it's like, 'Alright, let's throw it to the bigger part of the plate and let them put the ball in play'... I think we had a good game plan going on and we executed it."
Warren now owns a 4.37 ERA through 17 starts this season, and his 103 strikeouts rank first among AL rookies. The 26-year-old also leads the majors in called punchouts (38), and his fWAR ranks third among all rookies.
Judged for a walk?
Cody Bellinger bumped the Yankees' lead to 2-0 in the third inning with an RBI single to center that drove in Anthony Volpe. It was also a matchup that the Athletics wanted.
With one out and Volpe on second, the Athletics elected to intentionally walk Aaron Judge, and by taking the bat out of the superstar slugger's hands, Bellinger stepped up to the plate with a chance to do damage. He did just that, providing what turned out to be their first insurance run.
Nobody can seriously blame the Athletics for offering Judge a free pass to first -- creating a force out at any base -- and taking their chances with Bellinger in the box. But the lefty slugger has made opponents pay for that particular move. He's now 6-for-15 (.400) with two extra-base hits and seven RBI following an intentional walk to Judge this season.
"Understandable. [Judge is] the best hitter on the planet," Bellinger said. "For me, it's just like any other at-bat -- what's my plan and how can I execute in this situation? A baseball season is full of ups and downs... I like where we're at. I love this group of guys... I'm excited for the future, and just going to keep on rolling."
Funny enough, the Athletics were forced to pitch to Judge with the bases loaded in the fourth, but starter Mitch Spence worked out of the jam by striking out the Yankees' captain on an elevated cutter.
Stroman ready to return
Before the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone wasn't willing to appoint Marcus Stroman as their starter for Sunday, but there's no longer any curiosity on the matter. Boone confirmed after the win that the veteran right-hander will be activated from the injured list and pitch the series finale.
Stroman, who went on the shelf in mid-April with left knee inflammation, didn't look too sharp during his June rehab assignment. In 10.1 total innings with Double-A Somerset (three starts), he allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits and five walks with nine strikeouts.
The 34-year-old struggled prior to his injury, producing a ghastly 11.57 ERA across 9.1 innings (three starts). He gave up five runs on four hits and three walks and logged only two outs against the Giants back on April 11.
Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May delivers during the first inning of a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
Dave Roberts has a high bar for his $400 million baseball team.
Sure, the Dodgers entered Friday winners of 13 of their last 17, tied for the best overall record in baseball and leading the National League West by six games.
Sure, they already have one guaranteed All-Star in Shohei Ohtani, and seven other finalists who advanced to the second stage of fan voting that will begin next week.
But, in the eyes of their manager, “I still just don’t believe we’re playing our best baseball,” Roberts said Friday afternoon. “I don’t think we’ve played complete baseball for a stretch.”
On Friday night, that remained the case. Dustin May managed just four innings in a four-run start. The lineup produced only four total hits. Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández made run-scoring defensive blunders in the outfield. And the bullpen danced in and out of trouble down the stretch.
But amid this soft portion of the team’s schedule, flawed performances have often still been enough.
And in Friday’s 5-4 win over the badly slumping Kansas City Royals, that once again proved to be the case.
May gave up a run in the first after Kiké Hernández airmailed a throw to the plate with two outs, negating Ohtani’s leadoff blast (his 29th home run of the season, and eighth to lead off a game).
The Royals added three more in the third after Teoscar Hernández let a hard-hit, but very much catchable, line drive get over his head in right to score one run, and Bobby Witt Jr. added a two-run homer with two outs in the inning.
“Obviously, tonight Dustin wasn’t sharp,” Roberts said. “And we certainly didn’t help him out defensively.”
And yet, the Dodgers (52-31) still wound up with the lead entering the latter innings. Max Muncy continued his two-month-long tear with a two-run homer in the second, giving him 12 long balls and 46 RBIs in his last 42 games.
Shohei Ohtani hits a home run in the first inning against the Royals on Friday. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
Ohtani tied the score with an RBI triple in the fifth, before being driven home on a Mookie Betts single in the next at-bat.
In the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, the Royals (38-44) stranded a runner in scoring position — frustrating missed chances for a team trying to snap a 10-game home losing streak.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the game came down to a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity, with struggling rookie prospect Jac Caglianone at the plate.
Caglianone, the sixth overall pick in last year's draft, swung at a first-pitch slider from Tanner Scott that was up and out of the zone. His ground ball went right to second baseman Tommy Edman, who initiated a game-ending double play that required Freddie Freeman to make a sprawling scoop at first base.
“That was a sweet double play,” said Scott, who has converted eight straight saves this month with a 1.35 earned-run average. “Freddie’s pretty good. He’s got a Gold Glove for a reason. He’s a special player.”
“Incredible," Muncy added. "I don’t know how he did that one."
Freeman, of course, has also epitomized the Dodgers’ inconsistent play of late, going 0 for 4 on Friday to lower his batting average over the last 21 games to .152. Betts, too, has been slumping, hitting just .194 over his last 18 games despite his go-ahead single Friday.
“We haven’t gotten everyone to click at the same time,” Muncy said. “But we’ve had enough guys to take over on certain nights, that we’ve been able to kind of roll through it.”
May, meanwhile, has fallen into an extended funk, giving up 15 earned runs in his last 21 innings to raise his season ERA to 4.68.
“I mean, it’s just [crappy] all around,” he said, after yielding six hits and three walks in his 84-pitch outing. “Don’t know what to say.”
Mix in the bad defense, and virtually nonexistent offense from the lineup late in the game (a ninth-inning walk from Muncy was the team’s only base runner after Betts’ go-ahead single), and the Dodgers found themselves in what’s been a familiar situation of late: grinding through a dogfight against an inferior opponent. Playing the type of sloppy baseball that usually portends a mid-season slump. Yet doing just enough anyway to take sole possession of the best record in the majors.
As summed up by Roberts, who seemed unimpressed with the performance but took consolation in the victory: "We’re finding ways to win baseball games, which is most important.”
