SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MAY 10: Heliot Ramos #17 of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Sunday, May 10, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kavin Mistry/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants have had their fair share of bad injury news this year, but on Wednesday they got some good news on that front: Heliot Ramos is nearing a return. The Giants All-Star outfielder, who has been sidelined since mid-May, should be wearing a Giants jersey again soon.
Prior to Wednesday’s walk-off win over the Athletics, Giants manager Tony Vitello said that Ramos could potentially return this weekend, when the Giants host the Atlanta Braves. Ramos started a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento on June 17, and has appeared in five games for the River Cats, hitting 6-19 with a home run, three walks, and seven strikeouts.
While Ramos’ return will be a welcome sight for the Giants, no one’s entirely sure how the Giants will make the roster work once he’s back. In Ramos’ absence, Casey Schmitt has moved from the infield to left field, where he’s been essentially an everyday player. Schmitt has been one of the team’s best hitters, and leads the Giants in home runs, so it’s not like they can move him out of the lineup to facilitate Ramos.
One possible solution was hinted at during Tuesday’s AAA game, when Ramos played right field for the first time since 2024. With Harrison Bader still sidelined, and neither Drew Gilbert nor Jonah Cox running away with the center field role, could the Giants shift Jung Hoo Lee back to the middle of the grass, and play Ramos in right field, while keeping Schmitt in left field? That’s certainly the best offensive arrangement the team can come up with, though the defensive arrangement is more befitting an October haunted house than an October baseball dream.
Of course, if Luis Arráez’s recent injury lingers, that could temporarily solve the problem, with Schmitt moving to second base, and Ramos slotting in at left field once more. We’ll just have to wait and see.
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants conclude their series with the Athletics this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. PT.
AKRON, OHIO - AUGUST 10, 2025: Juaron Watts-Brown #10 of the Chesapeake Baysox throws a pitch during the second inning against the Akron RubberDucks at Canal Park on August 10, 2025 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by George Kubas/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
One bad inning sunk the Tides in this one. The top of the third inning saw the Bulls send 11 batters to the plate and score all six of their runs for the game off of five hits (including a two-run homer), two walks, and a hit by pitch. All six of the runs were charged to starter Trace Bright, but two of them came in after José Espada came on to try to quiet things down.
Anthony Nunez had a nice night. He tossed two shutout innings and struck out four. Josh Walker and Kyle Nicolas combined for a scoreless seventh inning as well.
Norfolk’ lineup outhit Durham’s 7-to-4, but they lacked much pop. Heston Kjerstad went 1-for-4 with their lone extra-base hit, a double, and three strikeouts. A rehabbing Dylan Beavers made his first appearance at Triple-A, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. José Barrero collected three hits, a run, and an RBI. Bryan Ramos had a hit, two walks, and two RBI.
The second game of the double header was a sloppy one for Norfolk. Their pitchers issued nine walks, and the defense made a pair of errors behind them. That meant that only three of the five runs allowed were earned by the pitching staff.
Yaqui Rivera started and gave up two runs on five walks and five strikeouts over 2.1 innings. Dietrich Enns followed and gave up three runs (only one earned) on a hit, two walks, and three strikeouts in his 2.2 frames. Andrew Magno and Cameron Weston worked one shutout inning apiece.
The first five hitters in the Tides lineup had one hit each, going 5-for-17 with three walks and four strikeouts as a group. The final four hitters went a combined 0-for-9 with two walks and two strikeouts. Kjerstad had one of those hits and drove in two of the team’s runs with a fifth-inning single. Jud Fabian had the other RBI on a sac fly. Beavers did not play in the night cap.
This was a standout performance for Baysox starter Juaron Watts-Brown, even though he was saddled with the loss. Over six innings the righty allowed just one run on five hits (one home run), one walk, and eight strikeouts. Cohen Achen came on for the seventh and would allow one unearned run due to an error by Anderson De Los Santos at third base. Juan Rojas was charged with a run in the ninth inning after walking the lead-off hitter, which came around to score after he was pulled in favor of Alex Pham.
Both of Chesapeake’s runs scored on solo homers in the ninth inning. Ethan Anderson hit his 14th of the year, and Aron Estrada smacked his 12th to bring the home team within one run. But there were few chances to score other than that. The team had only three at-bats with runners in scoring position and left a measly four runners stranded.
High-A: Frederick Keys 2, Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 0
The Keys came out swinging, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, which would prove to be all they would need to earn the win. RJ Austin led off with a single and quickly scored on an Ike Irish double. A wild pitch moved Irish to third base, and he then scored on a Victor Figueroa sac fly. The Keys would have just three more hits and zero runs for the remainder of the game.
Luckily, the Frederick pitching staff was on top of its game. Caden Hunter set the tone with five shutout innings in which he allowed one run, three walks, and eight strikeouts to lower his season ERA to 2.11. Richard Guasch worked a perfect sixth inning. And it was Riley Cooper to close out the final three innings, striking out five in the process.
There were some positives in the latest Delmarva loss. For example, Jaiden Lo Re had two hits, a walk, an RBI, and a stolen base. The 19-year-old has a .918 OPS since being promoted to Low-A. Braylon Whitaker had a three-hit game. Raylin Ramos hit his fourth home run of the season.
On the pitching side of things, starter Christian Rodriguez looked good. Over seven innings he gave up two runs on seven hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Kenny Leiner had a tougher day, coughing up four runs and only recording two outs. Zac Lampton did get the final out of the eighth inning, but not before allowing one of his inherited runners to score on a single.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JUNE 13: Lars Nootbaar #21 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates the win after the game between the Minnesota Twins and the St. Louis Cardinals at Target Field on June 13, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Minnesota Twins 9-6. (Photo by Steven Garcia/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Do you know what’s really nice about this season and in particular, the position the Cardinals have put themselves in? It’s June 25th and we have over a month until the Cardinals have to make a decision on what to do at the trading deadline. One could argue, and I think I would argue, that the results over the next month and change have no downside. Think about it.
What if the Cardinals suck for the next 30 games? Cool. Selling just got super easy. Everything we assumed would happen this season at the deadline will happen. That’s our downside. That the trade deadline will work exactly as we just assumed it would work at the beginning of the season – and in April too, because I doubt many bought the good start then. Everything is still going according to plan. A lot of the individual performances have gone better than expected and that will probably remain true in a month still.
What if the Cardinals are still in a wild card spot? Cool. Great problem to have. The Cardinals have a tough decision, we as fans do not. The team as currently constructed can still sneak into the wild card if they sell, because it is too easy to make the playoffs nowadays – which is not me saying it is easy to make the playoffs, I’m saying it should be harder. Yes, I am a less playoff teams is the way truther. But if they don’t sell, well they got that far with this current team, there’s no reason they can’t keep it up for another couple months. Maybe they even soft buy for fan engagement reasons. Even better!
And yet, Cardinals fandom at large does not seem to be reacting as if this is the case. Most fans, or more accurately I’m sure the most vocal ones, are treating wins and losses as if this was a team projected for 1st in the NL Central to begin this season. It’s been an interesting development. But yeah I just think we should be treating this like the no lose situation it is, because the worst case scenario… is basically the original plan. You can’t say that very often. That’s the fun of a rebuild season, wins are almost gravy.
I am okay with the idea of both buying and selling at the deadline. Obviously under this scenario, you’re not buying anything impactful, because frankly selling makes no sense if you trade any legitimate pieces to acquire an upgrade. Unless it’s a player for more than just this year. But you can acquire a minor upgrade for an extraneous piece. Think something similar to the Luke Voit for Giovanny Gallegos and Chasen Shreve trade.
The Cardinals have players equivalent or close enough to Voit – at least at the value he had when he was traded – in spades: Bryan Torres is a pretty good parallel honestly, because he has a good projection and strangely, no real route to playing time here. Jose Fermin already waited three years for his shot, and they’re effectively the same player. One happens to be right-handed and has a much easier route to playing time. If not him, you still have Cesar Prieto, maybe somebody believes in Thomas Saggese, who is still just 24-years-old. There’s room for maybe two of these guys, and if you can get a bullpen arm for one of them, that’s a win-win.
One thing I think I can’t quite get behind is trading Lars Nootbaar if you’re trying to have your cake and eat it too. Like obviously, trade Nootbaar if we’re completely selling. Don’t trade Nootbaar if we’re going for a playoff spot. But if we’re doing the soft buy and sell thing….. I don’t think you can trade Nootbaar either. That seems like a true sell move to me. I understand the logic. Joshua Baez will replace Nootbaar.
I think a smart planning team would expect Baez to struggle. Maybe that’s just me personally. That’s not me saying he will automatically struggle. But if I have any intention of making the playoffs, I’m not assuming we see no drop-off from Nootbaar to Baez. I assuming the opposite. I’m assuming we’re getting Masyn Winn in 2023. Well maybe not that bad, but you get the idea. I am assuming that going from Nootbaar to Baez will be a rather huge drop-off for this year specifically.
Part of it is the type of hitter Baez is. He has been improving in the strikeout department and I expect that to continue, but I also think someone who strikes out 30% of the time for two months in AAA is probably going to strike out more than that in their first attempt at the majors. I just think that would be a smart assumption. And maybe he has the power to overcome that, but maybe it looks something like Nolan Gorman. Again, I am speaking purely of 2026, not his future.
I will also say it would be kind of clever of the Cardinals to do that, because I think it would be accepted by the fans. I think fans are truly bought into Baez being good immediately, and even if he’s not, I don’t think Chaim Bloom will get any shade for it. It’s a good sell move without seeming like a sell move. That’s half the battle with selling when in a playoff position. I personally think it would decrease the Cardinals’ playoff chances, but I don’t think most fans would think that way.
This is a much easier argument to make right now, when Nootbaar has a very good hitting line. I think if you assume he’s a career 111 wRC+ hitter, I’d get a lot more pushback on this one. I’ll be honest: I’m very doubtful Baez would be a good hitter this season after looking at the history of 30% K rate guys. It was pretty consistent and yes I know most of them weren’t highly regarded prospects and yes there wasn’t a directly comparable player to Baez, but I think it properly scared me about him this season. Even Joey Gallo wasn’t immediately a good hitter.
Again, to be extremely clear, I am supportive and fine with Baez being in the majors to end this year. Ideally he gets the Masyn Winn treatment, we get 45 days of him, the Cardinals may get a draft pick for him next season. But if I do that, I am not expecting the playoffs. That, to me, is a sign that the Cardinals are sticking to the rebuilding plan. I don’t believe it’s a have your cake and eat it too situation. I really don’t.
Nelson Velazquez
Something I did not expect with the Nelson Velasquez experience is probably the fact that he is completely unplayable in the outfield. Yeah I didn’t think it was going to be this bad. I am honestly a lot more pessimistic about his future role on this team because of his defense. Simply, because most of the time, the Cards can’t really put him at DH. Unless Ivan Herrera starts learning a new position, that DH spot is covered most games.
But he is a truly horrendous fielder. He has been replacement level this season. Think about the fact that he has a 139 wRC+ right now. His defense has been so costly that Fangraphs has him as a replacement player. Now, to be fair, he won’t be this bad defensively over a full season mostly because I don’t think it’s possible, but also he won’t have this good of a hitting line either.
Obviously, the small sample of 224 career innings at LF producing a -5 OAA is beyond unplayable, but that’s also not completely fair. So I will be as fair as possible. He was for some reason put in 225 innings at CF by the Cubs, which was predictably disastrous. He was worth -4 OAA in 225 career innings. He was also worth -1 OAA in RF in 448 career innings. So using some positional adjustment for the CF numbers, his current performance suggests he is a -12 OAA corner outfielder over a full season. That’s Jose Martinez territory.
And frankly, if he’s below average in RF but there’s something about LF specifically that makes him a truly bad fielder, the numbers would be worse than that. And since Jordan Walker isn’t going anywhere, we won’t find out if he’s playable in RF. Something worth chronicling, because it just gives him a very high bar for how good he has to hit. Which granted, is also true of DH, but not quite the same thing. Because you aren’t actually costing your team as a DH if you have an above average bat, you are in the field.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 12: Quadir Copeland #11 of the NC State Wolfpack drives to the basket while guarded by Jacari White #6 of the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half during the quarterfinals of the 2026 Men's ACC Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 12, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Quadir Copeland didn’t hear his name called during the second round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, but he’ll still have a chance to play in the NBA this upcoming season. Copeland quickly agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets once the draft concluded.
The Rockets have a need at point guard, which they addressed in taking Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton in the first round, but that was their only draft pick this year (they traded a couple of second rounders away). So this looks like a pretty spot for Quadir to begin his pro career.
He’ll likely spend the bulk of the season with Houston’s G-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, but the two-way deal means the Rockets can bring him up and let him play in up to 50 NBA games. NBA teams have a couple extra roster spots specifically for two-way players, which gives those guys an opportunity to develop without having to worry about losing their jobs to a roster squeeze on the big club.
BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 23: An overall photo of 2026 NBA Draft stage before the 2026 NBA Draft - Round One on June 23, 2026 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Hannah Ally/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
So the draft is over, and what does it mean for the many tentacles of the Brotherhood? Let’s look at it. Well, some of them, anyway. There’s a lot of sifting and sorting to be done yet.
First, this year’s draftees: Cameron Boozer is a Grizzlie with the #3 pick, Isaiah Evans is a Timberwolf with the #33 pick, and Maliq Brown went to the Spurs with the #44 pick.
The Grizzlies traded for Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart, which means they suddenly have a very rugged frontcourt. They have Boozer, Stewart, and man mountain Zach Edey. Those guys are going to leave some bruises, and Stewart can help get Boozer up to speed on the league. And they also picked up Karim Lopez, who is apparently a bit of a bruiser himself.
All of it should also allow them to move away from Ja Morant, and if he decides to be foolish again, guns or otherwise, assuming they can’t trade him, they can afford to glue him to the bench. Cedric Coward and Ty Jerome could manage and be much steadier.
Incidentally, like Darryn Peterson, taken with the #2 pick by Utah, Boozer felt he should have been the #1 pick. Actually, he probably got a break. Washington has been a black hole in the NBA galaxy for decades, a place where careers go to die. He’s better off with Memphis.
Evans was taken by Brooklyn and sent to the T-Wolves, where he can build a solid niche, especially with Donte DiVincenzo getting over a serious injury. He can take pressure off of Anthony Edwards and help open the interior for an aging Rudy Gobert. Everybody can use a flamethrower.
The San Antonio Spurs went hard for defensive help after getting beaten up inside by the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. Brown can guard multiple positions, and he, along with Jayden Quaintance (6-9/253) and Tarris Reed (6-10/260), should offer reed-thin Victor Wembanyama some protection from rough defenders.
However, adding three young big men probably means Brotherhood member Mason Plumlee, now 36, won’t be back.
In Dallas, the Mavericks picked up Morez Johnson and Tobi Lawal. Both should help Cooper Flagg in the frontcourt. Johnson can help in a lot of ways, and while he hasn’t fully mastered the game, Lawal is a spectacular athlete. It’ll be interesting to see what new coach Dusty May does with him, not to mention how Kyrie Irving will work with them.
The Mavs also traded for Sergio De Larrea, a 6-6 Spaniard who could help if he is on the roster this year. There is some speculation that he could be a draft-and-stash.
In Charlotte, Kon Knueppel will greet new teammates Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson (there’s a bad joke there somewhere with Hannes Christian Anderson).
Steinbach is a promising big man who rebounds well, and Anderson will add more perimeter sniping. The Hornets rise should continue. However, they still need some muscle. They’d probably take San Antonio’s haul without asking twice.
Still, look at the young core: Knueppel, LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Moussa Diabate, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and now Steinbach and Anderson. They’ll probably lose Coby White to free agency, but Anderson may cover that.
It’s a solid core and if they can pick up a couple of pieces, they might go far, but perhaps without Ball, who Charlotte is shopping around, which might persuade them to hang on to White, if possible, as a stop-gap point guard. Maybe they can find one in free agency. Or maybe it’s a chance to pick up the muscle they think they need.
Update: muscle acquired. According to ESPN’s Shams Chamaria, “The Charlotte Hornets are trading star guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, 2030) and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033)…” They still have to figure out point guard, but muscle? They got the muscle.
Out in San Francisco, GM Mike Dunleavy has the unenviable task of moving from the Steph Curry era to whatever will replace it.
The Warriors picked up Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, and he’s a pretty solid prospect. We were surprised by Florida State’s Lajae Jones, who impressed us last year. Golden State got him with the 54th pick.
In Los Angeles, coach JJ Redick will add Baylor’s Cameron Carr. A 6-5 guard, he’s lavishly athletic. They still need a quality center, though.
In Detroit, meanwhile, Trajan Langdon made some interesting moves. The Pistons got Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie with the 17th pick. It’s a bit of a gamble, only because he’s a smallish guard, and we saw him struggle with bigger defenders, notably Blue Devil Dame Sarr. He’ll see a lot of guys like that, especially if he continue to score a lot.
Detroit also got Virginia’s Ugonna Onyenso with the 53rd pick. Onyenso has the potential to be a devastating shot blocker. Langdon, as noted, shipped Isaiah Stewart to the Grizzlies, so he may not be done wheeling and dealing yet.
In Hotlanta, Quin Snyder and the Hawks got Kingston Fleming from Illinois with the #8 pick, St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor with the #23 pick, and UNC’s Henri Veesaar at #52 after a trade with the L.A. Clippers.
Toronto GM Bobby Webster seems to have a type. Over the years, he has selected 6-8 Scottie Barnes, and traded for former Blue Devils RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram. This year, he picked Alan Graves with the 19th pick. A 6-9 forward who was a guard before he grew, Graves has a similar package of skills as the others we just mentioned. They may not all be on the roster next season, but the guy has a pretty clear preference for mid-sized, versatile talents.
Out in Phoenix, Khaman Maluach and Mark Williams may have gotten an enforcer as Arizona’s Koa Peat was taken with the 30th pick.
Other ACC players who were taken include Caleb Wilson, who went to the Chicago Bulls with the #4 pick. He somewhat foolishly called himself a GOAT, which is a bad move since Chicago’s real GOAT, Michael Jordan, also came from UNC. Wilson should be good, but he would have been smarter to be a bit more modest. He’s never going to be the GOAT in Chicago.
Louisville’s Mikel Brown went to Brooklyn with the #6 pick, and Cardinal teammate Ryan Conwell ended up with Miami after being taken with the 37th pick by Oklahoma City. Finally, SMU’s Jaron Pierre was taken with the 58th pick by the New Orleans Pelicans.
BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 23: An overall photo of 2026 NBA Draft stage before the 2026 NBA Draft - Round One on June 23, 2026 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Hannah Ally/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The story of this game was the performance from Logan Allen. It’s been an up and down season for him but he was brilliant in this game. He tossed 6 shutout innings, striking out 9 without allowing a single walk. His ERA is down to 4.66 on the season. Franco Aleman continues to put up video game numbers, after another scoreless outing with 2 strikeouts. His ERA is down to 0.35 on the season.
The Clippers offense was held to just 3 runs despite having 11 hits. CJ Kayfus went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI single, Bo Naylor went 2-5 with two hard hit singles. Joe Lampe also continued his hot stretch, he went 2-4 and is now hitting .400 with a 1.108 OPS since being promoted to AAA.
Juan Benjamin went 2-4 with a HR, Wuilfredo Antunez also homered, and Luke Hill went 1-4 with a double. Jose Devers also went 1-4 with a HR.
It’s been a tough transition to AA for Rafe Schlesinger. He allowed five runs on Wednesday in just four innings pitched while walking more batters than he struck out. His ERA since being promoted to AA is now up to 9.49. I am confident he will rebound once he makes some adjustments.
Aaron Walton went 1-4 with a walk and his 13th HR of the season. He is hitting .270 with a .905 OPS on the season. Jace LaViolette raised his average up to .240 with a 2-4 performance with a walk. He has been much better after a rough first couple weeks of his pro career. Nolan Schubart went 1-3 with two walks and has his OPS up to .884.
Jacob Zibin had an up and down High-A debut. He allowed four runs in 4.1 innings pitched, but he also struck out 8 batters, which is very impressive. I really like seeing him miss bats at this level already, and am excited to see how he finishes his season out. Donovan Zsak lowered his ERA to 3.09 after tossing two scoreless innings of relief with 3 strikeouts.
While I am certainly not out on the young man, I can’t think of a more disappointing Guardians prospect than Joey Oakie this season. I really thought he was going to take a leap into a top 100 type prospect and we have seen the complete opposite. After another rough start where he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings pitched, his ERA is up to 6.75. The stuff is too good for him to perform this badly, they gotta figure this out.
Luis De La Cruz went 2-4 with a 2 run HR and an RBI single. Cannon Peebles went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI triple.
League One: Notts Co v Leicester, Barnsley v Bromley
York return to League Two with visit of Bristol Rovers
Wolves will launch the Championship season at home to Blackburn, while West Ham head to Burnley in a meeting of the other two relegated sides in one of the more eye-catching fixtures on the opening weekend.
The EFL fixture list was released on Thursday and Wolves will play their first Championship fixture since 2018 under their new head coach, César Peixoto, at Molineux at 8pm on Friday 14 August, with the former West Brom manager Tony Mowbray back for a second spell in charge of Blackburn.
The Islanders' prospect pool has taken tremendous strides over the last few years, so let's take a look at the pipeline, which includes players 25 and under, even if they are pending restricted free agents at the moment and have yet to play a full NHL season.
It does not include players who have signed AHL deals or players who are Group 6 UFAs.
C: Danny Nelson, Kamil Bednarik, Luca Romano, Gleb Veremyev
LW: Maxim Shababov, Cole Eiserman, Quinn Finley, Victor Eklund, Daylan Kuefler, Tomas Poletin, Alex Jefferies
RW: Daniil Prokhorov, Matthew Maggio, Jacob Kvasnicka, Joey Larson
LD: Isaiah George, Kashawn Aitcheson, Marshall Warren, Jesse Pulkkinen, Calle Odelius, Xavier Veilleux, Dennis Good Bogg, Zach Schultz, Sam Laurila
RD: Tomas Machu
G: Dmitry Gamzin, Henrik Tikkanen, Joshua Kotai, Burke Hood
As you can see, there's a heavy need for the Islanders to add to the right side of their blueline pipeline.
But many will actually start their career playing in the Summer League.
The league is an offseason basketball series that includes some of the NBA teams competing, with the intention of evaluating the younger talent they have in their system. The field usually features the incoming rookie class and second-year NBA players.
While the complete schedule for the Summer League in Las Vegas hasn't been officially released, the tournament will take place from July 9-19 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Jazz and the Wizards will play on opening day in Vegas in a game that will likely feature Peterson and Dybantsa on the court against each other.
The Salt League City action will begin on July 4 and continue on July 6 and 7.
The California Classic will have games happening in two places. The Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings will serve as dual hosts this year. The Warriors will host games at the Chase Center in San Francisco on July 3, 5 and 6, and the Kings will host games at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento from July 4-6.
A list of teams competing at each event has not been announced.
According to BPM Sports and RG’s Marco D’Amico, Matthew Knies’ name is making the rounds in the NHL ahead of the draft. The Toronto Maple Leafs winger was heavily rumored to be the mysterious acquisition that fell through for the Montreal Canadiens on trade deadline day.
Word of discussions with Buffalo and the 4th overall pick.
San Jose also said to be of interest here as well.
Montreal remains interested, but hard to compete with the above teams. https://t.co/OAwk8WMzg1
D’Amico reports that the Leafs are not sure if they’ll move him, but they are certainly testing the waters to see what he could land them. He adds that the Buffalo Sabres, who now own the fourth overall pick in the first-round of the upcoming draft on Friday, are interested just like the San Jose Sharks and the Canadiens. However, given that Buffalo does have the fourth overall pick to offer, it will be tough for Montreal to compete.
It’s worth remembering that the Leafs already have the first overall pick and that, after missing the playoffs and firing both their coach and general manager, they are looking for a quick reset rather than a full rebuild. However, there have been reports of Morgan Rielly giving them a list of teams he’d be willing to be traded to. If that were to happen, chances are Toronto would actually need some roster players to fill the void and not just futures. That could be the Canadiens’ in.
The 32-year-old left-shot defenseman has been a huge part of Toronto’s defense for years, and the Canadiens do have a lot of options on that side of defense. Furthermore, as evidenced by the Bowen Byram trade which took place between the Sabres and the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this week, defensemen can land you a sizeable return.
At this stage, one can wonder if it wouldn’t be wise for the Canadiens to dangle the name of an established defenseman in front of their divisional rival, such as Kaiden Guhle. While he wouldn’t land them Knies on his own, he may be a good starting point for the conversation, especially if the Canadiens are willing to add a top prospect such as Alexander Zharovsky to the package. The skillful winger is held in high regard in the league, and most agree that he should have been a first-round selection at the last draft.
Michael Hage’s name has also been rumoured to be of interest around the league, but it’s hard to see how the Canadiens could even entertain moving him if the return doesn’t include an established second-line center.
While Knies isn’t a pivot, he would fill a sizeable need for the Canadiens. The 6-foot-3 and 232-pound forward has 160 points in 240 career games with the Leafs, including 66 points in 79 games last season. Furthermore, he landed 152 hits playing on Toronto’s top six. If he were to join Ivan Demidov on the Canadiens’ second line, he could be the big winger who’s tasked with puck retrieval along the boards, much like Juraj Slafkovsky does with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
His physicality would be a great addition for the Habs, especially around playoff time. The former second-round pick from the 2021 draft has really paid off for the Leafs and is signed for another five years with a $7.75 million cap hit, which would fit in very nicely with the Canadiens’ salary structure.
It goes beyond the shot-making, the playmaking and the white headband.
Reaves, the 28-year-old shooting guard, averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last season and continues to develop as one of the Lakers’ most dynamic players.
Inheriting genes from parents who played college basketball at Arkansas State certainly hasn't hurt. But embedded in his success appears to be character traits.
These traits surfaced long before he signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after the 2021 NBA Draft. The first signs emerged in Newark, Arkansas, a town of about 1,200 people where Reaves grew up on his family’s 300-acre farm.
An assignment for Austin Reaves
When Reaves was a senior at Creek Ridge High School, he took a life skills class with teacher Priscilla Callahan, who said she pushed Reaves to create a backup plan for his career.
Callahan said her fear was Reaves struggled with shoulder injuries that eventually required surgery.
"He just kind of said, ‘I'm going to play in the NBA, and I'll basically (said) figure it out if something happens,' ’’ Callahan told USA TODAY Sports.
Reaves never created a backup plan, and Callahan said she interprets it as self-belief that helped propel Reaves to the NBA.
"That is exactly it," Callahan said. "But there's a difference between what I would say is confidence and cockiness. And he had the confidence."
Reaves has said his representatives told the Detroit Pistons not to pick him in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft. The hope was he could catch on with the Lakers. As he did.
Before the 2024-25, he could have signed a four-year, $53.8 million contract extension. But he chose to hold off and try to increase his leverage. Then he played his best season yet and, as a result, landed the $185 million deal.
'They glue him up'
Reaves, who is 6-5, did not sprout up until his junior year. Those who scouted him earlier may have been put off by his size and chronic shoulder dislocations.
But Isaac Middlebrooks, who coached Reaves at Cedar Ridge, saw the picture differently.
"One of my favorite stories about Austin, we were in the state tournament and I think it was the semifinal game his senior year and Austin hadn't scored yet," Middlebrooks told USA TODAY Sports. "It might've been the start of the second quarter around that time. It's a close game and he dives on the floor after a loose ball and bust open his eyelid."
Reaves bled as he walked across the floor and saw the trainer, according to Middlebrooks.
"And they glue him up," said Middlebrooks, who added he called timeout to buy time as the trainer worked with Reaves.
"Austin, he didn't even stop and say, ‘Hey, you want me to go in coach?’ He just walked right by me, checked in and finished the game with 40-some points. And we won."
The toughness accompanied Reaves to Wichita State, where he played two seasons. And then to Oklahoma, where he played another two seasons. And now to Los Angeles, where he just completed his fifth season.
'Wanted to stick it out'
Cade Crabtree was Reaves' teammate on the high school basketball team and celebrated three state titles in four years.
They were best friends, as were their brothers, who were two years older and top players on the basketball team.
"Me and Austin, were same age, grew up together, best friends since 3 years old and our brothers, same way," Crabtree said. "Growing up, they're bigger, stronger, they're faster.
"Well, we would always play, whether it was a Whiffle ball game or basketball or whatever, me and Austin would always be on the same team knowing that the majority of the time we're about to get spanked by our older brothers.
"They beat us in everything they played us in and every now and then be like, ‘Y'all want to switch up things?’ And we never would because it was like, ‘No, we're going to keep playing y'all till we win.’ "
Which happened maybe once ever 100 games, according to Crabtree.
"But that's just kind of a testament because it's like, yeah, we could have split up and got one of the older brothers on our team made of a more fair game … (Reaves) didn't want it easy. He just wanted to stick it out."
Now Reaves, who’s known in Newark for his non-flashy attire and humble ways, is facing a new challenge, according to Crabtree.
"To be honest, the guy may have to practice learning how to spend more money because that's just not his style," Crabtree said.
The main event for the 2026 NHL draft across the league and for the Toronto Maple Leafs will be the first overall pick and who they'll take with that grand opportunity.
There are a handful of enticing prospects to take with that selection, and history says that the Maple Leafs will make a great pick with No. 60. In fact, Toronto has been fairly solid picking players around the 50 to 65 range.
Here's a quick look at how the Leafs have fared with second-round picks in recent memory.
Tinus Luc Koblar, 64th Overall (2025)
Though he hasn't made an impression in the NHL yet, Tinus Luc Koblar has proven to be a promising prospect for the Maple Leafs, after the team drafted him 64th overall in the 2025 NHL draft.
What makes Koblar particularly impressive is his campaign at the 2026 IIHF World Championship for Norway. The 18-year-old center scored six goals and nine points in 10 appearances for his country, leading the team in scoring and to their first-ever bronze medal at the competition.
Fraser Minten is a much earlier pick than the other names on the list. Nonetheless, he was a second-round selection by the Maple Leafs in 2022, and he's been a solid player in the NHL since.
Minten has played 107 regular-season games, along with six playoff contests in his short NHL career. He played his first full season in the league last year for the Boston Bruins, featuring in all 82 games and putting up 17 goals and 35 points.
Matthew Knies, 57th Overall (2021)
Matthew Knies is easily the best draft pick the Maple Leafs have made in recent years. Now, at 23-years-old and three full seasons in the league to this point, Knies has cemented himself as a star in Toronto.
Knies registered his second straight 20-goal season and set new personal bests in the assists and points departments, recording a total of 23 goals and 43 assists for 66 points.
Even if it feels like he's always needing to prove himself, Nick Robertson has blossomed into a legit regular NHL player over the past couple of years.
Robertson, 24, is coming off a career-high season, marking 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 78 appearances for the Leafs, and that's while averaging 12:40 of ice time.
The 5-foot-9 left winger has struggled to earn top-six minutes in Toronto, but whether he climbs into that realm next season or with another team eventually, he can certainly be a steady 20-goal scorer.
Sean Durzi, 52nd Overall (2018)
Sean Durzi has never made an appearance with the Maple Leafs, as he was a part of the trade that saw Toronto acquire Jake Muzzin in January 2019. However, there's no denying that he has been a solid NHL blueliner since entering the league in 2021-22.
His best campaign came in 2023-24 when he was with the Arizona Coyotes. The Mississauga, Ont., native provided 41 points and averaged 22:43 of ice time in 76 contests. In his five-year career, Durzi has featured in 302 regular-season games and averaged 20:28 of ice time on the back end.
Some other notable names that the Maple Leafs have drafted in the second round include Carl Grundstrom, Travis Dermott, Jimmy Hayes, Nikolay Kulemin and Matt Stajan.
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 26: John Collins #20 of the Utah Jazz handles the ball during the game against the San Antonio Spurs during the Emirates NBA Cup game on November 26, 2024 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Chris Nicoll/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Over the past two evenings, the Spurs drafted four new players. The Silver & Black now hold the draft rights to Jayden Quaintance, Tarris Reed, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, and Maliq Brown. The draftees address vulnerabilities in the Spurs game. But the work is not yet done.
Heading into the draft, the Spurs had nine contracts committed for next season. Six players including Harrison Barnes, Kelly Olynyk, Bismack Biyombo, and Jordan McLaughlin could be packing their bags heading into the 2026-2027 season.
The Spurs now look toward free agency to maintain their “win now” mode which carried them into the 2025 NBA Finals. One free agent who has previously been linked to the Spurs — and is an unrestricted free agent — is John Collins.
Collins career as a player has passed its peak. With the Clippers last season he averaged 13.6 points per game, the sixth best on a team that didn’t make the playoffs. What he lacks in statistics he brings in leadership. His veteran presence paired with hunger to win a title may pair well with a team who had a championship within their sights.
The Spurs need a true power forward. There are some worthy candidates in free agency. Is Collins a good fit for the Spurs?
What do you guys see as the biggest needs to the Spurs to attend to when the window opens on June 30th?
Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.
Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 24: Blaze Alexander #23 of the Baltimore Orioles reacts during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on June 24, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello, friends.
The west coast road trip of disappointment is finally over. At times, it seemed like it could have been something better than it was. If only the Orioles had scored more than six runs in three games against the Mariners. If only they hadn’t blown the series opener against the Dodgers. If only they hadn’t laid an egg against Ryan Johnson. And then, added to the pile freshly yesterday, if only they hadn’t… I don’t even know how to describe that. Check out Tyler Young’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.
These guys ain’t got it. They can trick you a little bit for a few days at a time at most, and because of the general state of the American League they haven’t yet faced a crisis point in the standings stemming from not having it. But we’re now past the halfway point of the season and it’s clear that this is what they are. There is not some other, better thing waiting inside to break out.
The Orioles are everything bad that they inflict upon us in more than half of their games. Perhaps there is nothing more representative than the play in the tenth inning where the Angels tied the game, where Keegan Akin was slow to cover first base and therefore did not catch what would have otherwise been an easy toss to end the game, and this error let the go-ahead run get all the way to third base. That runner promptly scored on a bad-luck (for the Orioles) chopper where only catcher Samuel Basallo could field it and he tried to tag the runner because Akin wasn’t moving for home.
He was not able to do this and they lost. Maybe he should have tried to throw to first instead. I don’t know. After the game, Basallo took the blame for this decision:
In a lot of ways, the specifics don’t matter as much as the fact that there’s always something stupid that finds a way to happen. That is just how the 2026 Orioles do it. I don’t understand why or how they do it. They just do. If you didn’t know any better, you might think that they never practice anything, routine or otherwise, to do with fielding baseballs.
They could have built something after winning two of three against the Dodgers. They could have! They just can’t do it because the players aren’t good enough. Mike Elias did not put together a roster with the horses to do this thing. He apparently thought the relief corps he assembled could get him through the season. What’s happened is a couple of guys were good in April and/or May and nobody else was, and now the good ones are collapsing too, as in the case of Rico Garcia’s contribution to yesterday’s loss. They wasted a game where Basallo hit two home runs for the first time in his career. It could have felt good.
The fact that the game unraveled in the hands of the bullpen does make the decision to lift yesterday’s starter, Trey Gibson, after only 66 pitches, something worth second-guessing. This was not a desperation move. Gibson could have gone for longer. He wasn’t struggling at the end; he’d given up runs in the first inning and then was doing better.
There was, of course, a logic to it. The bullpen had been lightly used in recent days and, with an off day tomorrow, spreading the work around was important because if guys get rusty and stink for that reason, that’s not good either. Gibson dodged the third time through the order penalty and things were lined up so five guys could get an inning. This failed on the first guy: Grant Wolfram couldn’t get an inning. Tyler Wells saved his bacon, then Yennier Cano couldn’t get an inning. Garcia got an inning but gave up three runs in the process.
On the other hand, if Gibson had pitched six innings instead, the Orioles probably still would have turned to Garcia in either the eighth or the ninth inning and would have been just as vulnerable to getting wrecked by June Garcia. They don’t have any good choices because they haven’t given themselves any good choices.
We all get a day off from them today. That’s nice. I need one after watching that Wednesday game squandered in the most frustrating fashion possible. Do you have anything fun planned on this off night? I’ll likely try to take a bite out of one of my nerdy pursuits, logging some time in a JRPG called Trails of Cold Steel.
Updates on Jackson Holliday and Adley Rutschman (Baltimore Baseball) It’s far down the list of things to complain about after everything else that happened yesterday, but the Orioles not having Holliday available for four straight games and not just putting him on the injured list so the team ends up short-handed is silly and counterproductive. One visible manifestation of this was Leody Taveras having to play third base mid-gae a couple of days ago.
Cedric Mullins is elevating and… oh no. (FanGraphs) The .199/.286/.305 for Mullins this year is sad to see. Apparently, he’s currently in position to set a record for highest fly-ball percentage by a batter ever recorded.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
The most recent Orioles victory on this day came in 2023. That year’s team beat the Mariners, 3-2, to raise their record to 47-29. That’s pretty good! Kyle Bradish tossed seven innings with two runs allowed and the Orioles only gave up three hits all game. Only two players who appeared in that game for the O’s remain on the 40-man roster: Bradish and Gunnar Henderson.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2008-11 outfielder Luke Scott, 2000-01 pitcher Ryan Kohlmeier, and 1977 pitcher Dick Drago.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: five-star Air Force general Henry Arnold (1886), author George Orwell (1903), singer-songwriter Carly Simon (1943), baskeball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo (1966), and actress Mckenna Grace (2006).
On this day in history…
In 1876, Lt. Col. Custer led his men of the 7th Cavalry Regiment into an ambush by a force of three native tribes that had him outnumbered more than 10-1. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was one of the last battles that saw the army battle native tribes; despite the victory in the battle, the Great Sioux War came to a close before long and the tribes could not withstand a reinforced army.
In 1947, The Diary of a Young Girl, secretly written by Anne Frank, was published posthumously.
In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, beginning the Korean War. There was an armistice after close to three years of fighting, though the two Koreas have never concluded a peace treaty so the war has technically never ended.
In 1978, the rainbow flag waved at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, the first time that was used to represent gay pride. Tomorrow night is Pride Night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 25. Have a safe Thursday.
