Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Tuesday, June 25.

NBA

A massive trade went down late last night in the NBA. The headline will read “New York Knicks acquire Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets” but with three teams involved and a lot of moving parts, there’s a lot to breakdown. Here’s how it looks from each of the teams involved:

• Do you miss college and hanging out with your best friends? You might be the New York Knicks. With Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo already on the roster, the Knicks have added another member of the 2016 National Champion Villanova Wildcats. In addition to helping the team chemistry, Bridges is a legit two-way player, capable of leading a team on offense and defense on any night. He’s also never missed a game in his NBA career. It’s a hefty price to pay for a guy who’s not a clear superstar, but in a league dominated by versatile wings, the Knicks did what they had to do. If they can supplement this move by re-signing free agent OG Anunoby, it could make the Knicks a clear championship contender.

• From the Nets perspective, the trade is a sign of an upcoming rebuild. Good job by Brooklyn to capitalize on a potential overpay, as well as re-acquire their own picks to control their destiny going forward. Only time will tell how the six (six!) first round picks acquired in this deal pan out.

• Lastly, the Houston Rockets held the key to the trade by sending the Nets back the first round pick they had previously traded for in the ill-fated James Harden deal. In exchange, the Rockets got back some different first round picks that the Nets owned. I’m not sure exactly why the Rockets agreed to this, considering the Nets are set up to be really bad and that pick will likely go up in value. However, they now technically have more firsts than they did before. It appears they have plans to make bigger and more present-focused moves very soon– stay tuned for more from Houston.

SOCCER

Four games in the Euros yesterday and two in the Copa America. Let’s start with the action from across the pond:

• Austria emerged as the surprise winner of Group D. While France was only able to manage a 1-1 draw against Poland, Austria beat the Netherlands 3-2. Both the French and Dutch squads will advance to the knockout rounds, but all the glory from this group goes to the Austrians.

• While there was plenty of action in the first set of games, both matches in Group C ended 0-0. England won the group but continue to look flat and uninspired. Slovenia and Denmark advance over Serbia, with Denmark taking second place on a “less yellow cards” tiebreaker. Every game played among these teams except for one ended in a draw– history may remember this as the most boring group of all-time.

The Copa America gave us two well-played games, but only one goal from each– Canadian striker Jonathan David scored (assisted by a beautiful call from the broadcaster) to lead his team over Peru, and Argentinian striker Lautaro Martinez knocked one in to lead his team over Chile. The win secured Argentina’s spot in the knockout stages, although Lionel Messi may be injured.

MLB

Time to go around the horn in major league baseball:

• Fireworks in San Diego between the Padres and Nationals. The game began with the benches clearing and an ejection, and was put away with a Jurickson Profar grand slam. The Padres won a feisty one 9-7.

• 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole took the mound for the Yankees in the battle of New York. He gave up four home runs, struck out zero, and was chased from the game after four innings. Despite a Juan Soto home run and an Aaron Judge grand slam, the Mets won 9-7.

• Bryan Reynolds continued his league-leading 22-game hit streak with a home run, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat their division rival Cincinnati Reds 9-5.

WNBA

The Minnesota Lynx beat the New York Liberty 94-89 to win the Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season tournament that takes place during the WNBA season. Lynx guard Napheesa Collier was named the MVP.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

One day after losing in the College World Series championship game, news broke that Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle accepted the head coaching job at the University of Texas. Schlossnagle was adamant last night that this would never happen. Why’d you say those things Jim? You didn’t have to say any of that! At least the two schools aren’t rivals…

PLAY OF THE DAY

What do you do when there’s no obvious candidate for play of the day? Here’s Shohei Ohtani:

Ohtani is the first Dodger since 1955 to have an RBI in nine consecutive games. Just wait till he starts pitching again.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

NBA DRAFT: Round One, 8 PM on ABC/ESPN

• The NBA has split the draft into two separate nights. Round one begins tonight– the Atlanta Hawks have the first pick, although consensus among draft experts is that this year’s group of prospects is fairly weak. My dark horse candidate for the first selection is Donovan Clingan from UConn.

SOCCER: Slovakia vs Romania and Ukraine vs Belgium, Noon on Fox and FS1; Czechia vs Turkey, 3 PM on FS1

• We have potential for total chaos tomorrow because Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, and Belgium are all tied in Group E. Anything could happen in their final games. And while Portugal has already advanced as the winners of Group F, Czechia could go through with a win over Turkey.

MLB: Braves @ Cardinals, 1:45 PM and 7:15 PM

• A rainout last night has given us a good old-fashioned double-header between the top two wild card teams in the National League. As of today, Atlanta and St. Louis are separated by just 3.5 games. There’s a long way to go in the playoff race, but you never know how 18 innings on a Wednesday in June will impact the final standings.

And that’s a Remix! Enjoy your Wednesday.