New stars appear in NBA, MLB

New York Times

26-06-2025

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Good morning! Please wish my father a happy birthday today. Happy birthday, Dad.
Today we focus on two drafts, one that happened last night and one set to occur in just three weeks. Let's start with last night's first round of the NBA Draft, where saw a new star born and a bunch of other question marks take shape:
The biggest flop? My New Orleans Pelicans, already in dire straits, trading next year's first-round pick unprotected to Atlanta in order to trade up for Maryland's Derik Queen at No. 13. That pick could be No. 1 next year, and they let it go for the No. 13 pick in this year's draft. Unreal stuff.
See every pick here. Let's hope we see some of these guys in Las Vegas at summer league.
Misiorowski outshines Skenes
In one of the most anticipated pitching matchups of the MLB season, Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski dazzled while Pirates ace Paul Skenes faltered in a 4-2 Milwaukee win. Misiorowski struck out eight in five scoreless innings, while Skenes allowed all four runs in just four innings of work. In 16 innings pitched this year, Misiorowski has 19 strikeouts to just seven walks and two earned runs. Lord. Eno Sarris broke down why Misiorowski is so hard to hit.
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Oilers jettison Kane
Edmonton traded Evander Kane to Vancouver for a 2025 fourth-round pick, both teams announced yesterday, in what could set off a flurry of offseason moves for the Stanley Cup runners up. In truth, Edmonton desperately needed to get off Kane's contract and, somehow, retained none of Kane's salary in this deal. For that, the Oilers get high marks in our trade grades.
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We've talked tangentially about how much baseball's minor-league development system, paired with collegiate NIL funds, has altered how young players make career choices. What was once an easier decision — opting for the minors right out of high school — is now more balanced, with fewer minor-league franchises to play for and the opportunity to make legit money in college.
It's easy to see the corresponding effect in the majors. Yesterday, we wrote about Chase Burns' debut in Cincinnati, which came a little over a year after he was pitching at Wake Forest. Same goes for his college teammate Rhett Lowder, Skenes, Dylan Crews, Jac Caglianone, Nick Kurtz and so on.
So … who's next? Keith Law, who's written plenty on this overall theme, picked a few names from next month's MLB Draft class that could earn a major-league roster spot sooner than you think. Two that stood out to me:
See the full list here, which includes two LSU Tigers. Harrumph.
📺 CWC: Juventus vs. Manchester City
3 p.m. ET on TNT/DAZN
Two titans of this competition finally clash, though both are set to advance to the knockout rounds no matter the result. It should be a fantastic match, and playing on a June afternoon in Orlando will make it even harder on the players. Tune in.
📺 MLB: Braves at Mets
7:10 p.m. ET on MLB Network
New York has had an abysmal stretch, but I'm most curious about Atlanta, which has the talent makeup of a title contender but has played to a frustrating standstill just below .500. Baseball season is long, but why does it already feel over for the Braves?
Get tickets to games like these here.
Come for the Arch Manning content, stay for Cooper and Ellen's parenting tips. Bruce Feldman scored an exclusive interview with Arch's parents, who prepared him for this exact moment. Great story.
Mike Jones picked his NFL offseason winners and losers. The Raiders!
The MLB trade deadline creeps ever closer. We have full buyer/seller tiers here. Fascinated to see what the Orioles do.
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To drill down further: The Cubs might have the most pressure at the deadline, because the clock is ticking on Kyle Tucker. Ken Rosenthal analyzed a thorny situation.
The summer transfer window is set to open July 1, and as Paul Tenorio detailed, multiple USMNT players could be on the move.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Sam Vecenie's NBA mock draft.
Most-read on the website yesterday: NBA Draft live blog. Big day.