Greetings, Panthers fans. Welcome to the weekend.
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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Lakers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
With the strict NBA salary cap and apron restrictions, teams have to get their big contracts right. Signing a player to a max deal they can’t live up to can set a franchise back for years.
With Reaves up for a big payday this summer, the Lakers had to decide if he was a max player. They negotiated hard with him, but in the end he reportedly agreed to re-sign on a four-year, $185 million deal.
There are a couple of ways to look at this. One way is to think that the Lakers did well here by keeping top talent and paying Reaves what he deserves.
The Lakers will get what they paid for. Reaves is a max player, so they compensated him accordingly. Now he’s set to play in LA during the prime years of his career.
Another way to evaluate this contract is that the Lakers spent way too much money.
Reaves has never even been an All-Star. Add in some postseason struggles, and Reaves’ contract will only look worse over time, especially if he is done improving and his best performances have already been seen.
So, for our SB Nation Reacts survey this week, we asked fans how the Lakers did on the Reaves contract. The results were relatively positive.
The top selection by fans was a B grade, and that seems very fair. If the deal was for less money and the last year was an option for the team instead of Reaves, then perhaps an A grade would be the right choice.
The way things turned out, Reaves is relieved to be a Laker, he got paid, and the team keeps a guard that can produce a ton of points and scoring opportunities.
That sounds like a situation where everyone wins, and a B grade reflects that.
Still, 21% of fans give this deal an A. So, the overall perception is that keeping Reaves was necessary, and the fact the Lakers did that is all that matters.
Only 15% of fans graded this extension a D or lower. These people likely don’t like the idea of Reaves at this price point.
However, with the Pistons reportedly interested in him, Reaves was likely going to get paid regardless. At least now, the Lakers will benefit from his continued growth.
With Lakers fans happy and even Luka Dončić reportedly excited about the franchise keeping Reaves, the Lakers did well on this deal.
Now their backcourt is secured, and they can focus on improving the team in other areas, knowing the starting guards are elite.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
The Yankees didn’t exactly ask us that, but they might as well have after reinstating Trent Grisham from the injured list, only to add that Carlos Rodón was hitting the shelf with left-elbow inflammation, a move retroactive to June 30th. We’re only halfway through the moves, as Ryan McMahon has also returned to the fold following his illness and Oswaldo Cabrera is heading back to Triple-A.
With these four moves—six if you want to count David Bednar returning from the paternity list yesterday and Yovanny Cruz returning to Triple-A himself—the Yankees will, at least for the time being, carry only 12 pitchers and 14 position players, an unsustainable figure leading us to believe other moves are coming in the near future, perhaps as soon as Saturday.
Rodón was the scheduled pitcher for tomorrow’s matchup with the Twins. Unless the team calls someone up for a spot start tomorrow (Brendan Beck is in play since he was scheduled to go tonight for Scranton; Elmer Rodríguez pitched last night, so he’s out), the likely bulk options for a makeshift game are Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough, noting Yarbrough last pitched on Tuesday, while Blackburn tossed 19 pitches on Wednesday. After combining for 65 starts between 2024 and 2025, Rodón’s 2026 campaign has been dramatically affected by injuries, going on the IL with just nine starts to his season total, a shame because he hadn’t really skipped a beat upon his return.
If you’re looking for a silver lining, the lefty says that his UCL is intact.
Grisham needed just one game in Double-A before his activation after an early-June hamstring injury. He figures to slot back into the leadoff spot, a welcome addition to this lineup that has been depleted by injuries this season but unwavering in its production, number one in baseball in home runs. Trying to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke, Grisham was at his best right prior to the injury after a slow start—the hope is that this time off won’t negatively impact the left-handed hitter.
Due to a lack of options, if nothing else, Ryan McMahon will also likely return to a regular role, having last appeared in a major-league game a little under two weeks ago before being hit by an uncomfortable throat infection. Expectations may be low on his bat, but after watching too much of the shaky defense of Cabrera, Amed Rosario, and José Caballero at the hot corner, McMahon’s glove will at least offer a reprieve.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are beginning their weekend series in the nation’s capital for America’s 250th birthday as they take on the Washington Nationals in D.C.
Keller picked up the win in his last start against the Cincinnati Reds on June 28. He pitched six innings, giving up five hits and three runs, in the Buccos’ 9-4 victory at PNC Park. Keller pitched against the Nationals on April 4-10 when the two teams met at PNC Park. He pitched only four innings, giving up six hits and five earned runs in their 5-4 loss at home.
On the other end of the pitching matchup is Nationals pitcher Foster Griffin, who is off to a stellar start this season. Griffin is 8-2 with a 2.93 ERA. Griffin spent his last three years in Japan before returning to Major League Baseball as a starter for the Nationals. He played in 2020 with the Kansas City Royals and in 2022 with the Royals and Toronto Blue Jays, but didn’t have much traction in the big leagues. Now that he’s with the Nationals, he has found a true home in the rotation.
In his last start against the Baltimore Orioles on June 27, Griffin pitched seven innings, giving up three hits and no earned runs. On April 16 against the Pirates, he pitched 5.1 innings, giving up eight hits and four earned runs. The Nats are 13-4 this season when Griffin takes the mound.
Location: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Pitching Matchup: Mitch Keller (6-5, 4.87 ERA) vs. Foster Griffin (8-2, 2.93 ERA)
BD community, chime off in the comments section below.
With LeBron James already conveying his intention to leave the Los Angeles Lakers and Austin Reaves re-signing, Rui Hachimura is now biggest member of the Lakers’ 2025-26 roster whose free agency fate remains uncertain.
The 28-year-old Hachimura has done more than enough to earn a lucrative deal in free agency, and he’s coming off a season where he scored 11.5 points per game and shot 44.3% from three-point range.
While the Lakers are showing interest in bringing him back, they aren’t the only Western Conference team who has their eyes on Hachimura. In a July 2 Substack article, NBA insider Marc Stein asserted that the Minnesota Timberwolves are prioritizing Hachimura as their top forward target, and are expressing “serious interest” in signing him with Hachimura’s representation.
Minnesota has already been active this offseason, trading for star guard LaMelo Ball from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029 and 2030), and three future second-round picks. Minnesota already has one of the league’s biggest stars in Anthony Edwards.
The Lakers’ front office has already faced criticism this season for what many fans feel like is a failure to build a true contending roster around Luka Doncic. There’s still plenty of time for Los Angeles to change this narrative, but if bringing Reaves back and trading for Walker Kessler is all the Lakers accomplish by the end of the offseason, that criticism will feel warranted.
Re-signing Hachimura would be a step in the right direction, even if it still means other moves need to be made afterwards. And if Hachimura doesn’t end up back in Los Angeles, the hope among fans is that he’ll end up somewhere in the Eastern Conference.
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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
There were a number of things missing from the Orioles last year. One of those things was someone hitting a bunch of dingers. The 2026 Orioles have their share of problems too, but at least they’ve got a guy hitting a bunch of dingers. They had to pay $31 million a year to get Pete Alonso, and so far he’s doing what they’re paying him for.
In this week’s survey, I asked Orioles fans to make their choice for Most Valuable Oriole so far this season. To my surprise, Alonso came out as the choice of a majority of voters. People love their homers. Here’s how the voting turned out:
Looking purely at bWAR accumulated so far, Alonso is tied with Adley Rutschman, so there you go, most valuable. As I outlined when I put up this survey, I think the real answer is Brandon Young, without whom this season looks no different than last year did and with not even slim hope of improving. Alonso is an excellent second choice. No Oriole hit more than 17 homers a year ago and Alonso already has 19. Hopefully he can keep adding to his total in the summer months.
The Orioles continue their season journey in Cincinnati on Friday night.
This week’s survey is sponsored by FanDuel.
The final stretch begins tonight before the All-Star break as the Brewers kick off 11 games in 10 days, beginning with a visit out west. Earlier this season in Milwaukee, the Crew fared well against the D-Backs as they took two of three, both wins in ceremonious fashion.
Last homestand, both the offense and the pitching were hot and cold; They’ll need a strong finish over the next week and a half, with the Chicago Cubs playing great baseball over the last week. The Brewers will lean on their southpaw tonight in an attempt to get off on the right foot as Kyle Harrison takes the mound.
Harrison missed the D-Backs last time around, but fortunately for him, he saw a ton of them when he was with the San Francisco Giants. Lifetime against the D-Backs, Harrison is 0-2 with an 8.56 ERA and 13 strikeouts over four appearances. This time around, however, he is not the same person as he was two years ago, setting him up for revenge tonight.
Getting handed the ball for tonight’s opener for the Diamondbacks is Jose Cabrera, who will be making his third career start. In his first two starts, he made it just five innings in both games. In his first start, they were all scoreless, and in his second start, he allowed four runs on seven hits and two home runs to the Tampa Bay Rays.
As for the Diamondbacks as a team, they are coming off their last off-day until the break. In their previous series against the Giants, they took two of three, with the offense breaking out of their slump after scoring just four runs in their series with the Rays.
With the Diamondbacks having faced Harrison quite a bit during his time with the Giants, most of their lineup has faced and succeeded against him. Corbin Carroll has the most at-bats with six, including a home run, an RBI, and a couple of hits. Out of the roster, only five hitters have faced Harrison.
Tonight’s game is on primetime yet again, as you can watch on Apple TV and listen live on WTMJ 620 and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is 8:45 p.m.
It is completely understandable to be excited over the possibility of LeBron James choosing to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. That was true in the summer of 2018 when James was in his mid-30s and it’s still true now as he’s in his early 40s and potentially embarking upon a farewell tour in the 2026-27 season. After a few days of speculation, we’ve probably all at least thought for a little bit about how cool it would be to see a playoff-plagued franchise like the Sixers exorcise their demons with LeBron James in the middle of all of it in what might be his final season in the NBA.
On some level it’s all understandable. James is probably the greatest player of the 21st century and is widely-regarded as the second-greatest man to ever play basketball. He’s not just any free agent so we’re not just going to get a Shams tweet that announces where he’s signing. Basketball has always been the most individualized North American team sport and James is far from the only star that likes to bask in the rays of attention. Certainly, as his career winds down, there’s no reason to think that behavior would change.
But how much of this do we really need? Is it even fun to track all the leaks? Many felt the Sixers had a chance eight years ago when rumors began to circulate that James or someone in his circle was visiting Malvern Prep as a possible high school for his kids to attend. In 2018, LeBron James did not attend the free agent meeting his representatives had with the Sixers, so how much of a chance did they really have?
Fast forward to present day and the Twitter detectives are billing hours faster than Tyrese Maxey goes coast-to-coast for a fastbreak layup. We’ve gotten an interview with James’ agent Rich Paul in which the starters for all the contenders in this summer’s LeBron sweepstakes are on a whiteboard. There was an asterisk next to Maxey’s name on the whiteboard fueling all sorts of speculation as to what that meant.
We’ve also had some of the social media sleuthing lead to the possibility of a private plane from Philadelphia to James hometown of Akron, Ohio on Friday morning. Sportsbooks and other prediction markets have updated odds for James’ next team to be more favorable for the Sixers with every inkling of “information.” To reiterate, this kind of circus is not exclusive to James. There’s a reason people say the offseason in the NBA is better than the season. It’s just the biggest circus of all when it’s James.
Ultimately, James can only play for one team when push comes to shove. There are a lot of fanbases who are talking themselves into the hype that comes with their team’s chances, and many of them will not have James on their roster next season. If you’re enjoying the social media speculation, go for it if you must. At this stage in his career, remember it’s probably only a one or two-year commitment and the winner of this summer’s LeBron sweepstakes certainly isn’t getting the player the Lakers got in 2018, the Cavs got in 2014 or the Heat got in 2010. That doesn’t mean James can’t help the Sixers. Their roster for next season is coming together nicely and a point forward type like James who can find open shooters would fit well with what they already have.
But if you’ve decided to sign off from Twitter for the holiday weekend, who can blame you? Sure, this all comes with the territory when it comes to the pursuit of a high-level free agent in the NBA. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t get tiresome. Most of all, no one wins NBA championships during the first week of July. In a lot of ways, the announcement of where James is playing in 2026-27 will feel like the end of something, and it will be. It will be the end of reckless speculation on where James is currently located, who his team is talking to, and what hints they’re putting out.
But it will be the beginning of what really matters and that’s James’ playing days for his next team. I think we’d all agree we’d rather enjoy LeBron making plays on the court for the Sixers in big playoff games in May and potentially June more than we’re enjoying what’s going on now.
The Wizards shored up their center position for next season by acquiring DeAndre Ayton from the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s yet another trademark Will Dawkins trade — the price for Ayton was a guard they didn’t want and a couple second round picks. Add this move to a list that include paying nothing the team wanted to obtain Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks, and paying a modest price for Anthony Davis.
This isn’t a franchise-altering move, but it’s a smart one nonetheless. While multiple teams have given up on Ayton, including the Lakers, who just paid a heavy price to acquire Ayton’s replacement, he’s not a bad player, and he will upgrade Washington’s backup center spot next season.
Last season, Ayton’s individual production was solidly above average (144 PPA — in PPA, 100 is average and higher is better), though the Lakers were only “about the same” on both ends when he was in the game. That goes for regular season and playoffs.
After spending heavily to acquire Walker Kessler, the Lakers needed to offload Ayton’s relatively modest $8.1 million salary to create financial flexibility for other moves, and get back some future draft resources. That they dealt him for a player they don’t want and a couple second round picks is a bit of an indictment of the former No. 1 overall pick — a guy selected ahead of players like Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Still, a guy one team doesn’t want can still have value to another. For Washington, Ayton checks a few boxes. At full health, he’ll be the primary backup center — slotting into a three-big F/C rotation with Alex Sarr and Davis. With Ayton in the fold, Davis won’t have to spend much time as the titular center. Figure the team will start and finish halves with Davis and Sarr up front and play combinations of the three in between.
Ayton also provides some injury insurance in the likely event that Davis or Sarr gets hurt. Both have injury histories. Sarr is currently recovering from a broken foot suffered during an offseason workout. Both are expected to be ready for training camp, but it’s still wise to have some coverage.
Ayton also provides some flexibility in case Dawkins and Michael Winger change their minds and agree to trade Davis to Golden State or elsewhere. Ayton is no long-term answer in the middle, but neither is Davis. With Ayton, the issues are quality and attitude — he’s not The Guy and hasn’t exhibited the willingness to do the work necessary to be The Guy.
With Davis, the issues are age, health, and expense. When healthy, he’s been terrific.
The move will give Washington an $8.1 million trade “exception” in the form of Ayton’s expiring contract. They’ll also create a $6 million exception because, as suggested by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, they’ll use their existing trade exception for Kelly Olynyk to bring in Ayton — which was set to expire July 9 if they didn’t use it.
Again, nothing about this transaction significantly alters the franchise’s trajectory. Ayton improves their reserve center spot and gives them some flexibility. He’s a temporary solution that fits a current need, and it didn’t cost future assets with significant value. That’s solid work from the front office.
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The Dallas Mavericks announced their Las Vegas Summer League roster on Friday, and there are several fun additions to the group.
Ryan Nembhard, John Poulakidas and Tyler Smith are some existing Mavs that fans might remember from last season. Nembhard, who busted onto the scene at Summer League last year alongside Cooper Flagg, will likely run a lot of point for the Mavericks early on in the summer. Poulakidas came on later in the season last year, and has earned another go with the Mavs this offseason. Tyler Smith, who also joined the Mavericks late last season, is also in for Summer League.
The fun here is in the rookies that the Mavericks selected in last month’s NBA Draft. Ninth overall selection Morez Johnson Jr. will debut for Dallas in Summer League, and he will be flanked by 25th overall pick Sergio de Larrea. The Spainard was last seen winning the ACB title with Valencia and is coming over to join not just the summer Mavs, but the actual Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks second round selections will also be joining the squad. Tobi Lawal is the extremely athletic forward from Virginia Tech. I can almost guarantee he will do something incredible in Summer League, whether it be a dunk or a block. And perhaps the most shocking development, Russian prospect Vsevolod Ischenko will be joining the Mavs in Vegas. Ischenko is a 6’8” guard that is an interesting dart throw for the Mavs. Now, don’t get your hopes up immediately, as he will likely be stashed in Europe again this year, but it will be fun to see exactly what they’ve got in him right now.
Overall, there is a strong international flavor on this roster. Three Spainards, a Russian, a Canadian, a Nigerian and an Englishman will all be in Vegas. Should at least be an entertaining watch! Be sure and follow along with us here at Mavs Moneyball as we take you through the Las Vegas Summer League.
The Rockets have traded Dorian Finney-Smith to the Charlotte Hornets for…nothing. In fact the Rockets sent Smith and three second round picks to the Hornets to make sure DFS made it to IAH, or HOU, I’m really not fussy.
I will admit that I was a fan of the signing, and many of you were as well. DFS, at the time, seemed like he might give the Rockets about 75% of Dillon Brooks. As it turned out, he gave the Rockets about 7.5% of Dillon Brooks. This could well be the fault of the ankle injury that sidelined him for most of the season. In fact he only started looking like the player the Rockets thought they were getting sometime in the series with the Lakers. Which was, as it turned out, too little, too late.
The Rockets recent signings all come with one watch word, and that word is flexibility. The signings all expire, more or less, when the deal for Kevin Durant expires. Finney-Smith’s deal had a player option in 28-29, as well as a guarantee for this season, and next. Now he’s going into the Hornets salary exception.
The Rockets traded their Memphis second round pick next season (which should be a good one), and their own 2028, and 2033 second rounders (who knows?). So that was the price to get out of the DFS is CFS experience. Honestly, even if he plays well for Charlotte, this is for the best. It’s unlikely he’ll break out of his career norms, and more likely that at 33 he’ll continue to decline.
While I haven’t loved the Marcus Smart and BogBog deals, I like this one. It’s a fairly cheap way to get out of a mistake, and second round picks are now pretty much the grease for the wheels of NBA commerce at this point.
The deal gives the Rockets a little breathing room this season, and who knows what they might do? Perhaps they’ll sign another older, not especially good player. With the new contract for Tari Eason it makes sense to move on from DFS for any number of reasons.
Dorian Finney-Smith, we hardly knew you. Good look in North Carolina.
July 1 may have passed, but there are still some interesting players who remain unrestricted free agents. Interestingly, a handful of the top remaining UFAs played are former Blackhawks.
This is because Patrick Kane, Matt Grzelcyk, Philipp Kurashev, and David Kampf all remain unsigned.
Out of these four former Blackhawks, Kane is, of course, the most notable player. The Blackhawks legend is still an impactful top-six winger at this stage of his career, posting 57 points in 67 games last season with the Detroit Red Wings. The idea of him returning to Chicago is a fun thought but also very unlikely. He will likely head to a contender if he does not re-sign with Detroit.
After posting 12 assists in 69 games last season with the Blackhawks, Grzelcyk is still unsigned. The 5-foot-10 defenseman had to earn a contract through a PTO from Chicago last year after posting 40 points in 82 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25. Will he get a contract from another NHL club more quickly this summer?
After not receiving a qualifying offer from the Blackhawks last summer, Kurashev signed with the San Jose Sharks and had a decent 2025-26 campaign. In 43 games, the 6-foot forward had seven goals and 20 points. Teams looking for more secondary offensive production could consider signing the 26-year-old.
As for Kampf, the 31-year-old center posted two goals and six points in 40 games last season split between the Vancouver Canucsks and Washington Capitals. He doesn't offer a lot of offense, but he works well in a bottom-six role because of his strong defensive play and thrives at the faceoff dot.
Two former Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball stars are heading east.
The Los Angeles Lakers on Friday traded center Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. Ayton recently opted in to the second year of his contract with the Lakers, which will now transfer over to Washington. Ayton will be paid $8 million next season.
Ayton averaged a career-low 12.5 points and 8 rebounds with the Lakers last season. He started 72 regular season games, his most games played in a season.
Ayton joins a Wizards front court that includes Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr. Washington drafted BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the top pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
Also on Friday, Caleb Love signed a two-way deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, as first reported by Charania.
Love was a free agent after playing his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. In 49 games with Portland, Love averaged 10.4 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds.
Love will join former Arizona forward Dalen Terry in Philadelphia. Terry, who was traded to the 76ers last season, appeared in 14 games with Philadelphia, playing mostly mop up minutes.
The struggling New York Yankees welcomed back a pair of everyday players Friday, July 3 - yet lost another left-handed pitcher to an elbow injury.
Carlos Rodón was placed on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation, the club announced. It's another setback for a rotation that lost fellow lefty Max Fried on May 13 with an elbow bone bruise.
Rodón's season debut was delayed until May 10 as he recovered from offseason surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He posted a 3.30 ERA in nine starts; in his last outing, he gave up no earned runs over five innings but walked four against Boston.
The club did welcome back outfielder Trent Grisham, who was out since mid-June with a hamstring strain. Infielder Ryan McMahon (throat, ear infection) also returned after he was placed on the IL June 24.
The club has been without reigning MVP Aaron Judge since May 31, and it has been nearly a month since his June 5 IL placement for a stress fracture in his right rib. At that time, the club said the injury would be re-scanned in four to six weeks, but the club did not anticipate that occurring as the four-week mark arrives.
The Yankees, following sweeps by Boston and Detroit, have lost seven consecutive games and nine of their past 11.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carlos Rodón injury update: Yankees lefty placed on IL with elbow inflammation