Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama on fast track to GOAT status; MLB mock draft

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🏀 Five things to know Monday

1. Victor Wembanyama will write the next chapter of his legacy in the NBA Finals. The Spurs are four wins away from their first championship of the Wembanyama era, but they need to get through the scorching-hot Knicks to claim it. San Antonio punched its ticket to the finals with a 111-103 win over the Thunder in Saturday’s Game 7 — a contest in which Wembanyama accelerated his trajectory to the pantheon of NBA greats. He was not the only winner to emerge from the Western Conference Finals, though, as De’Aaron Fox also stepped up in a big way to potentially cement his role for the long term. The Spurs will host Game 1 of the finals on Wednesday while the Thunder turn their attention to the tough decisions that lie ahead this offseason.
2. The Stanley Cup Final begins Tuesday. We entered the weekend knowing the Golden Knights would play for a championship, and now we know who their opponents will be. The Hurricanes trounced the Canadiens to complete a 4-1 series triumph, which not only sent them to their first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years but also extended Canada’s title drought to 33 years. Carolina is now the odds-on favorite to hoist the cup.
3. Paris Saint-Germain are UEFA Champions League winners again. Things got off to an inauspicious start for the reigning champions when Arsenal took a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute of Saturday’s final. PSG equalized and outlasted the Gunners in penalty kicks, however, to claim their second European crown in as many years. Luis Enrique became just the second manager in the modern era to repeat as Champions League winner, and PSG now have the makings of a dynasty with a couple of titles on their ledger. Arsenal fell just short of pairing their Premier League title with a Champions League win and remain in search of that next step. Perhaps it will come in 2027, as both them and PSG stand in the top four of our way-too-early power rankings.
4. The upsets keep pouring in at the French Open. Things at Roland-Garros took an unimaginable turn last week with Jannik Sinner’s shocking loss, and the surprising results carried into the weekend. Joao Fonseca, all of 19, stunned Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller in the third round to guarantee that this year’s French Open winner will be a first-time grand slam champion. And on the women’s side, there will be no back-to-back winner after defending champion Coco Gauff fell in a surprise third-round defeat to No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova.
5. Sean Sweeney is expected to take the Magic job. Orlando will reportedly hire Sweeney at the end of the postseason, allowing the Spurs assistant to complete his NBA Finals run before he embarks on his first head-coaching job. While he lacks experience as a head man, Sweeney is highly regarded as a rising standout on the sidelines and walks into a great situation in Orlando with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner headlining a playoff roster.

🤔 Do not miss this: Burning questions for the NBA Finals

The matchup is set, and we have questions. There are three things in particular that we want to learn from the NBA Finals, and the answers will determine which team hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Let’s take a closer look at the first of those questions, which is “What will the Knicks get out of Mitchell Robinson?”

The Spurs could have themselves a matchup advantage in the frontcourt with New York’s center nursing a broken pinky. The Knicks declined to divulge information as to how he sustained the injury, so we don’t have a clear idea as to whether he had been playing through it. Even though he underwent surgery in the past few days, Robinson reportedly hopes to play in Game 1. If he does suit up, there is no telling what he will provide.

Take it from our Jack Maloney:

• Maloney: “Will he still be able to grab rebounds in the same way? Will he be as aggressive defensively? If the Spurs use the ‘hack-a-Shaq’ strategy, will he have any chance at the free-throw line?”

As for that last question, 12-time NBA All-Star Rick Barry suggested Robinson should shoot his free throws underhanded. That’s easy for Barry to say, considering he shot 89.3% from the line for his career while using that method.

⚾ Roch Cholowsky goes No. 1 in our debut MLB mock draft

It is not necessarily a foregone conclusion that Roch Cholowsky will be the first player selected in the 2026 MLB Draft, but the UCLA shortstop has been the favorite at No. 1 since before the college season even started. Our Mike Axisa is going with the consensus in his first mock draft of the year, although he acknowledges the White Sox could legitimately go in a couple other directions.

• Axisa: “High school shortstop Grady Emerson is a legitimate option at No. 1 and it could be that Chicago’s decision comes down to each player’s bonus demands. The White Sox could also take a player like, say, high school shortstop Jacob Lombard, sign him to a below-slot bonus, and use the savings to grab whichever highly ranked players fall to their later picks.”

Further down the board, you’ll find a unicorn of a prospect from Attleboro, Mass. Brody Bumila is a high school senior who measures at 6-foot-9 and delivers a 102 mph fastball as a lefty. Yes, you read all that correctly. A former MLB executive told our Julian McWilliams that Bumila has “everything you want to see.”

Here’s where Bumila landed among our projected first-rounders:

20. Red Sox: 3B Bo Lowrance, Christ Church Episcopal School (S.C.)
21. Padres: LHP Brody Bumila, Bishop Feehan HS (Mass.)
22. Tigers: OF Derek Curiel, LSU

⛹️‍♂️ Stay-or-go decisions reshape NBA Draft

The deadline for college players to withdraw from the NBA Draft and retain their NCAA eligibility came and went last week, giving us a better idea of the prospects who might hear their names called in the first round later this month. With a handful of big-name players heading back to school, it’s time for a significant mock draft refresh. Our Cameron Salerno unveiled his updated projections.

Salerno says the top players to remain in the draft are Koa Peat, Meleek Thomas and Allen Graves. He sees each of them going in the first round now that they are locked into the draft.

• Graves: No. 21 to Pistons
• Peat: No. 22 to 76ers
• Thomas: No. 28 to Timberwolves

The top of the draft remains fluid, too, with the Wizards still undecided at the top of the board. Salerno also foresees a couple of trades inside the top 10.

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

📺 What we’re watching Monday

⚾ NCAA baseball regionals, all day on ESPN networks
🎾 French Open, fourth round, 5 a.m. on TNT
🥎 WCWS: Tennessee vs. Texas, noon on ESPN
🥎 WCWS: Alabama vs. Texas Tech, 7 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Giants at Brewers, 7:40 p.m. on FS1
🏀 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup: Storm at Wings, 8 p.m. on USA Network
🏀 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup: Lynx at Mercury, 10 p.m. on NBC Sports Network