Miles Bridges trade grades, Mets, Angels next moves

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🐝 Five things to know Monday

1. The Hornets traded Miles Bridges to the Suns in a lopsided transaction. Charlotte is busy on the trade market early this offseason, as the Bridges trade came a matter of days after it shipped LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves. Bridges, a 2029 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick are headed to Phoenix in return for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 unprotected first-round pick. That’s quite the haul for a player in Bridges who is on an expiring contract, and our trade grades suggest the Hornets won the deal by a landslide. Our Sam Quinn even called it “a genuine home run, one of the best trades any team will make this offseason.”
2. Leadership overhauls are underway for the Mets and Angels. Something flipped for New York last summer, as it has been nothing but disappointment since the hot start to the 2025 season. Thus, Carlos Mendoza is out as manager as of last Friday. The question for this expensive roster is what it will take to compete in 2027. Perhaps the Mets will spend even more money on talent, but what is clearly more important is finding the right man to lead those stars. Albert Pujols is among the six names to monitor in this managerial search. Meanwhile, in the AL West, the Angels cut ties with general manager Perry Minasian, who never produced a winning season in his five-plus seasons as the club’s top executive. The interim staff has some big decisions to make at the trade deadline.
3. Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland will duel in the Travelers Championship playoff. The final signature event of the PGA Tour season will feature a Monday playoff. A weather delay late in Round 4 threw a wrench into a back-and-forth battle between Scheffler and Hovland (tied at 21 under) and forced them to wait one more day to determine a winner. One of the largest prizes on tour is at stake when the two return to TPC River Highlands this morning and play the par-4 18th until one of them comes out on top.
4. Wimbledon is underway. It is not until Tuesday that Serena Williams will make her return to the grand slam stage, but numerous stars will be out on the grass courts in today’s opening round action nonetheless. Our tournament picks and predictions are in, so let Brent Brookhouse explain why Ben Shelton is one to watch on the men’s side and why he’s taking the women’s field over Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
5. The Maple Leafs selected Gavin McKenna with NHL Draft’s No. 1 pick. It was a long time coming for McKenna, who had been a big-name prospect since well before his spectacular lone season at Penn State. His track record in the WHL and CHL and as the reigning Big Ten scoring champion gives him a chance to develop over time into one of the greatest No. 1 picks of the century. The Maple Leafs are not the only team that should feel excited about their first-round picks, though. The Sharks grabbed two prospects in the top nine picks, while the Kraken found tremendous value at No. 7.

⚽ Do not miss this: World Cup Round of 32 Power Rankings

What a weekend it was at the World Cup, where France‘s Ousmane Dembélé recorded the tournament’s fastest hat trick in 72 years, Argentina legend Lionel Messi scored off the bench to remain the Golden Boot frontrunner, Japan keeper Zion Suzuki put on a show to clinch a knockout stage berth and Luka Modrić put on a vintage performance with his first assist of the summer in a key win for Croatia.

The stars have not disappointed. Neither have the African countries. A whopping nine teams from that continent punched tickets to the Round of 32 as the latest form of proof that soccer is alive and well in Africa. Look at Ivory Coast, for instance, which is through to the knockout stage for the first time thanks to performances that would make legends like Yaya Touré and Didier Drogba proud.

Now that the historic 48-team group stage is complete (here’s what we thought of the new format, by the way), it’s time to make another kind of history with the World Cup’s first Round of 32 knockout stage. It’s also time to update our World Cup Power Rankings with three matches worth of data on every remaining squad.

There is one significant shift inside the top 10. England is up one spot to No. 4, replacing Portugal, whose two draws in group play have us wondering whether they will reach their full potential in time to win a trophy for Cristiano Ronaldo. Here’s what our Francesco Porzio had to say about England:

• Porzio: “Harry Kane is on another level this season. He surpassed Gary Lineker to become England’s all-time leading World Cup scorer, reaching 11 tournament goals, and this season he has scored 70 goals for club and national team, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous single-season European scoring record. Not too bad.”

Check out the full World Cup Power Rankings to see where the United States stands. I’ll give you a hint, though, and tell you they are inside the top 15. That places the Americans ahead of these squads:

15. Switzerland (↑2)
16. Sweden (↓1)
17. Ivory Coast (↑1)
18. Egypt (↑1)

🏀 Every NBA team’s biggest offseason question

NBA rumors are whirring, most notably with the Warriors reportedly interested in teaming Stephen Curry up with both LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Plus, the Celtics‘ asking price for Jaylen Brown in a potential trade is four first-round picks. And in other trade buzz, these teams have shown interest in acquiring Kawhi Leonard.

The league’s landscape could look entirely different in a matter of weeks, if not days. Also, every other team not mentioned in those rumors has decisions of its own to make. So in addition to whether those franchises will make splashes with offseason-defining trades and free agent signings, we identified the biggest question for every team this summer.

Starting in the Eastern Conference, the reigning NBA champions might have to bite the salary cap bullet and enter the second apron if they want to fully run things back for their title defense. Are the Knicks really as dead set on ducking that threshold as they seem? Sam Quinn ponders:

• Quinn: “There’s no immediately apparent way they can bring back key reserves Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet without crossing that line. Perhaps they could keep one of them, and even that might involve some creative maneuvering at the deadline. But if the Knicks refuse to be a second-apron team, their bench is going to look different next season. That’s just unavoidable.”

In the West, these 2026 playoff teams face uncertainty as they seek to take the next step:

• Thunder: What are their final cost-cutting maneuvers?
• Spurs: Is there a De’Aaron Fox trade market?
• Nuggets: How can they keep Peyton Watson?

⚾ Phillies leapfrog Braves in top five of MLB Power Rankings

The two best teams in the NL East are on opposite trajectories. Over their last 12 games, the division-leading Braves are a paltry 3-9 while their greatest challengers, the Phillies, are a much more inspiring 8-4. The result? Atlanta’s lead on the division — which was as massive as 10.5 games earlier this month — is down to a slim three games.

Our Matt Snyder did something that earlier this year seemed unthinkable; he moved the Phillies into the top five of his MLB Power Rankings, ahead of the Braves.

• Snyder: “It’ll be a party in Philadelphia, the birthplace of America, in July. Will there be another party once the regular season ends with an unlikely NL East title? Time will tell, but the Phillies sure look the part right now.”

Here are the teams hovering around that top-five threshold, including the Cubs, who are the streakiest club in baseball and are right back on another heater.

4. Phillies (↑2)
5. Braves (↓3)
6. Yankees (↓2)
7. Cubs (↑7)

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Monday

🎾 Wimbledon, first round, 6 a.m. on ESPN
⛳ Travelers Championship playoff, 9 a.m. on Golf Channel/Peacock
⚽ World Cup: Brazil vs. Japan, 1 p.m. on Fox
⚽ World Cup: Germany vs. Paraguay, 4:30 p.m. on Fox
🤼 WWE Raw, 6 p.m. on Netflix
⚾ Rangers at Guardians, 7:10 p.m. on ESPN
⚽ World Cup: Netherlands vs. Morocco, 9 p.m. on Fox
⚾ Angels at Mariners, 9:40 p.m. on ESPN Unlimited
⚾ Dodgers at Athletics, 9:40 p.m. on Peacock
⚾ Giants at Diamondbacks, 9:40 p.m. on MLB Network