— Utah Jazz drafted Ace Bailey with the 5th pick in the first round Wednesday night, but apparently he doesn’t want to play there. Rumors had him wanting to play for either the Nets or the Wizards.
The 5th pick in the draft gets a 4-year contract worth $40M; if he were to play overseas next year and eschew playing for Utah, the Jazz would keep his draft rights, so doubtful that happens.
If he totally sits out next year (he can’t play in college anymore), he could go back into the 2026 Draft, but sitting out a full year isn’t a genius move.
Turning down $40M for four years, and delaying the (often lucrative) second contract would be a bold move. This will be interesting to follow.
— Really good players are found all over; these players weren’t drafted in the 1st round:
33rd pick- Jalen Brunson
35th pick- Draymond Green
39th pick- Chris Middleton
41st pick- Nikola Jokic
57th pick- Manu Ginobili
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the 11th player taken in the 2018; he’s been traded twice already, to the Clippers the night he was drafted, and then again a year later.
Whoops.
— NBA free agency starts in four days, the NBA Finals just ended, but the Knicks still don’t have a coach; what the BLEEP are they doing?
They made the Eastern Conference Finals this year for the first time in 25 years, then fired their coach, Tom Thibodeau. Why? Who will they hire who is a better coach?
— NBA champ Oklahoma City Thunder doesn’t have any free agents this summer, so their roster is their roster, at least for next season.
— ESPN put former Warriors GM Bob Myers and former NBA executive Bobby Myers on their coverage for the 2nd round. More talk about basketball, less talk about players’ parents— that is a good thing.
— College basketball schedules are going to increase from 31 to 32 games, starting in 2026-27; hopefully this will result in more interesting non-conference games.
— Famous birthdays, June 27th
Rico Petrocelli, 82
Craig Hodges, 65
Chuck Person, 61
Jeff Conine, 59
Tobey Maguire, 50
Bobby Wagner, 35
Jonah Heim, 30
Yordan Alvarez, 28
Will Levis, 26
— Teams’ records in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on:
National League:
Giants 18-8
Phillies 18-14
Nationals 12-9
Dodgers 13-10
Mets 13-11
Marlins 12-11
Cardinals 13-12
Padres 15-15
Cubs 11-13
Pirates 12-14
Braves 13-15
Diamondbacks 12-14
Brewers 9-12
Rockies 7-12
Reds 7-12
American League
Mariners 21-9
Angels 18-9
Astros 18-8
Blue Jays 17-12
Rays 14-9
Guardians 12-7
Royals 15-13
A’s 12-11
Tigers 10-9
Twins 9-13
New York 9-15
Rangers 7-13
Orioles 5-12
Red Sox 10-18
White Sox 7-19
— Last three years on June 25th, MacKenzie Gore pitched against the Padres in San Diego:
6-25-23- W8-3. Allowed a run in 5 IP.
6-25-24- L9-7. Allowed five runs in 5 IP.
6-25-25- L1-0. Allowed a run in 6 IP.
— Astros’ SS Jeremy Pena has switched agents to Scott Boras; he has already turned down a deal worth $100M. Seeing how Alex Bregman also has Boras as an agent, seems likely that Pena will be bolting Houston in the near future.
— Visiting players with the most hits against the Mets at Citi Field:
122- Freddie Freeman
79- Bryce Harper
— There were seven shutouts in the major leagues Tuesday night, tied for 2nd-most ever in one night; in case you were wondering, the record is eight, which happened on June 4th, 1972.
— Trade deadline in baseball is July 31st, but with so many teams in playoff contention, will there be a lot of players up for grabs?
AL Wild Card teams right now: Rays, Blue Jays, Mariners
0.5 games out- Cleveland
1- LA Angels
1.5- Texas
2- Boston
2.5- Minnesota
3.5- Kansas City
Mostly out of the race: Orioles, A’s, White Sox
NL Wild Card teams right now: Phillies, Brewers, Padres
0.5 games out- San Francisco
1- St Louis
2.5- Cincinnati
3- Arizona
6.5- Atlanta
Mostly out of the race: Marlins, Nationals, Pirates, Rockies
