Week 14 of the NFL schedule kicks off this evening with the Dallas Cowboys traveling to Michigan to take on the Detroit Lions. Dallas enters the week with a three-game win streak, including their Thanksgiving Day victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-28. The Lions have alternated wins with losses over the last eight weeks, including their Thanksgiving Day loss to the Green Bay Packers, 31-24.
Please use this evening thread to discuss this evening’s game, and as always, your Miami Dolphins. Remember to follow all site rules during the live threads, just as you would with any other post. Personal attacks of any kind for any reason are not allowed. Please refrain from discussing politics or religion. Sharing illegal game streams is prohibited, including requesting, discussing, or providing them.
Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1) 2nd NFC East @ Detroit Lions (7-5) 3rd NFC North
When: Thursday, December 4th, 8:15 PM EST
Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
Streaming: Amazon Prime, NFL+ (following the game)
Ben Saraf’s recent uptick in play hasn’t gone unnoticed. Sent to Long Island for rhythm and reps after slipping out of the Nets’ rotation, the rookie guard returned looking sharper, and head coach Jordi Fernández said the stint clearly elevated him.
“He went and played with Long Island and played like an NBA player,” Fernández said. “And once we had an opportunity to play him, he played again and played great.”
Saraf has looked increasingly comfortable since returning, flashing the pace, confidence and downhill playmaking Brooklyn hoped to tap into when the season began. Fernández acknowledged that Saraf’s turnovers have been a talking point — the 19-year-old has eight turnovers to 11 assists over his last three appearances entering Thursday — but he stressed the responsibility isn’t his alone.
“I tell the guys turnovers are going to happen, and that’s fine,” Fernández said. “Fourteen of them are mine. As long as your ratio is good, if you turn it over four times you have to give me eight assists.”
Fernández’s message to Saraf is about freedom layered with discipline: play loose, read the floor, understand coverages and spacing, and keep growing. What he values most from Saraf and the other young players is their response.
“They care, and they want to do better,” Fernández said. “That’s what I respect.”
NEXT STEPS
Egor Dëmin’s point guard education in the NBA has come with expected growing pains, but Fernández believes the rookie’s doing just fine at this stage. Through his first 19 appearances, Dëmin is averaging 3.6 assists to 1.7 turnovers, a sturdy two-to-one ratio that Fernández sees as both a foundation and a challenge.
“I think he’s doing a great job,” Fernández said. “Two to one is very good. The next step is can he get to three to one. And I think he can because he’s one of the best at finding the 3-point line in the NBA.”
For Fernández, the next phase of Dëmin’s development is about deepening his reads. The rookie has excelled at locating shooters, especially on drive-and-kick actions, but the staff wants him to expand that awareness when he gets into the paint. That means recognizing drop coverage, manipulating two-on-ones and delivering lobs or pocket passes to rollers with more consistency.
“Right now, he’s done a great job finding the 3,” Fernández said. “Now the next step is reading those next actions, all the cuts, the rolls, the two-on-ones.”
He pointed to Dëmin’s back-to-back left-corner assists to Noah Clowney on Wednesday as examples of simple but precise plays that lift the offense. It’s that blend of aggression and accuracy he wants to see become routine.
“I’ll keep being hard on him because I have high expectations, and I know he can do it,” Fernández said.
MANN RETURNS
Terance Mann returned to the starting lineup Thursday against the Utah Jazz after missing the past two games because of right rib soreness, giving the Nets a needed playmaking presence on a night when they were without Michael Porter Jr. (lower back injury management) and Drake Powell (left knee injury management). The veteran forward has averaged 6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists over his last five appearances.
Mann’s absence earlier in the week opened the door for expanded minutes for Tyrese Martin and rookies Powell, Saraf and Danny Wolf. Mann averaged 11.9 points on 52.9% shooting across Brooklyn’s first eight games, but his production has dipped to 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 35.8% shooting in his last 11 appearances.
As is often the case early in baseball’s offseason calendar, the reliever market has seen some significant movement before the other segments of free agency really get rolling, as several notable bullpen arms have found new contracts and/or new teams in recent weeks.
It began with the Cubs inking right-hander Phil Maton to a two-year, $14.5 million deal, a sensible match considering the vacancies in Chicago’s bullpen and Maton’s sneaky strong 2025. Then a couple of arms with prior late-inning experience but also significant recent injury issues found new homes, with former Tigers closer Alex Lange signing with Kansas City and talented lefty Sam Hentges joining San Francisco after some stellar years with Cleveland.
The reliever market has been moving — and with the winter meetings next week, that trend is expected to continue — but there are still enticing options available for bullpen-needy clubs to address their later innings. With Williams (No. 27), Helsley (No. 33) and Iglesias (No. 45) off the board, here’s a look at the status of and potential landing spots for the four other relievers on our Top 50 free agent rankings, plus one more high-profile closer who joined the free-agent pool unexpectedly last month.
No. 11: RHP Edwin Díaz, 32 years old
Profile: Díaz is a game-ending monster, plain and simple. His overpowering fastball-slider combination presents a particularly unpleasant coin-flip for opposing hitters trying to start any sort of rally against him, and while his command and control occasionally elude him, his stuff is often more than good enough to overcome any shortcomings with location. 2025 was also one of his best seasons yet, prompting Díaz to opt out of the two years and $38 million remaining on his contract and reenter the open market as the best closer available.
Potential fits: If Díaz is indeed seeking a contract similar to the record-setting, five-year, $102 million deal he garnered during his first trip to free agency three years ago, that obviously limits the number of teams that could plausibly be in pursuit of the right-hander. Interestingly, one of those teams, the defending champion, deep-pocketed Dodgers, is reportedly not as inclined to chase a reliever at that exorbitant price and length of contract — perhaps in response to how poorly last year’s outlay to land Tanner Scott went.
If the Dodgers are focusing their efforts elsewhere in the reliever market, a reunion with the Mets — the other team most willing to stretch their payroll to stratospheric heights — looks like where this is headed. By signing Williams and trading away outfield staple Brandon Nimmo, president of baseball operations David Stearns has made it clear he’s willing to shake up the Mets’ roster, regardless of sentimentality. But adding Williams should not preclude New York from retaining Díaz, considering how badly the bullpen needed upgrading at the outset of the winter.
Indeed, pairing Williams with Díaz rather than replacing him would go a long way toward turning the relief corps in Queens into a legitimate strength, rather than running it back with an undermanned unit. It might take some time for the two sides to find common ground on another mega-deal, but Díaz staying put still feels like the likeliest outcome.
No. 28: RHP Robert Suarez, 35
Profile: Suarez is a bit older than some of the other top names on our free-agent rankings, having not debuted in the majors until age 31 following a tremendously successful run as a reliever in Japan. But his four seasons as a Padre — and particularly the past two, when he racked up an MLB-leading 76 saves — were plenty good enough to warrant Suarez declining his $8 million player option for 2026 in search of a more lucrative multiyear deal, even as he enters his late-30s.
Suarez throws extremely hard and attacks relentlessly with both a four-seamer and a sinker, relying on a nasty changeup when he needs a whiff; there’s no breaking ball to be found here (at least not recently). But because of his top-tier velocity and rare ability to fill up the strike zone as a modern, late-inning reliever, Suarez has been tremendously effective and should continue to be as long as he’s lighting up radar guns. How long his elite heat will last, however, is a worthy question for teams to ponder as they consider committing big dollars to Suarez.
Potential fits: If Díaz ends up returning to Queens, Suarez could be primed for a bidding war between the defending pennant winners to land him on a shorter-term, high-AAV deal. The Dodgers might not want to give Suarez or any reliever more than two years, but that might not be a problem here, considering Suarez’s age. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have been as aggressive as any team in upgrading their pitching so far this winter.
(From right) Edwin Díaz, Robert Suarez and Luke Weaver are among the relief arms still available on the free-agent market.
Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports
No. 32: RHP Luke Weaver, 32
Profile: After a full-blown breakout with New York in 2024 as a reborn relief ace following years as an unremarkable starter, Weaver continued to shine early in the 2025 season amidst Devin Williams’ dramatic struggles. But while Williams quietly excelled down the stretch, Weaver got notably worse as the season went on and never looked the same after returning from a midseason hamstring injury.
Like Suarez but with merely good, not elite, velocity, Weaver succeeds without much of a breaking ball, leaning heavily on his four-seam fastball and changeup, with the occasional cutter mixed in. Even with the limited mix, Weaver generally throws strikes and yields both chase and whiff at high rates, a promising combination of skills for a late-inning arm. His most glaring weakness is a proclivity to allow a ton of airborne contact and, in turn, a few too many long balls for comfort for someone handling high leverage. That could make his next home ballpark a worthwhile factor to consider when evaluating his potential landing spots.
Potential fits: Unlike Díaz and Suarez, who in all likelihood will handle the ninth inning for whichever team signs them, Weaver does not need to go to a team that needs a capital-C closer. He has proven effective both in a closing role and as more of a traditional setup guy, broadening his appeal to a wider array of teams seeking bullpen reinforcements. Funnily enough, several of Weaver’s former clubs with which he didn’t have much success look like solid fits for him now, such as Arizona, Cincinnati and Seattle.
But for the purposes of this exercise, let’s pair Weaver with a new team that would mark the seventh major-league club of his winding career: San Francisco. Oracle Park is exactly the kind of homer-unfriendly venue that could help mask Weaver’s flyball tendencies, and the Giants clearly need bullpen help, ranking 29th on FanGraphs Depth Charts’ projecting WAR at each position. Without Randy Rodriguez, who will be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery to start 2026, Ryan Walker is the only proven Giants reliever in-house. Adding Weaver wouldn’t break the bank and would address an obvious need.
No. 44: RHP Brad Keller, 30
Profile: By far the least accomplished free-agent reliever on our Top 50, Keller emerged as a surprising late-inning weapon for the Cubs in 2024, thanks to newfound velocity and decent command of an unusually deep pitch mix for a reliever. That varied arsenal makes sense considering Keller’s background as a starter in Kansas City and could play a role in his future, as some teams might contemplate signing Keller with the intention of converting him back to a rotation role.
Keller’s relative youth could also factor into the calculus for teams, as it makes it far more likely he could command a two- or even three-year deal, even with just one year of great performance to his name. With encouraging underlying indicators suggesting that his 2025 was far from a fluke — he was getting a ton of ground balls and whiffs as a Cub — Keller is clearly a name to watch for teams targeting upside. That’s true whether he stays in the bullpen or returns to the rotation.
Potential fits: With the possibility of Keller starting and the wide range of opinions his age-29 breakout has inspired, Keller’s market is particularly difficult to pin down; he has a vast array of possible suitors. To highlight one, let’s go with the one team that ranks below San Francisco in projected bullpen WAR as things stand: the Texas Rangers.
Outside of left-hander Robert Garcia, who was acquired in a trade last winter, the Rangers have a boatload of bullpen innings to backfill, with the likes of Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Jacob Webb, Chris Martin and Phil Maton hitting free agency. Keller could be an intriguing start to those efforts — or even a low-cost candidate to compete for a spot in a Texas rotation that could also use some help.
NR: RHP Pete Fairbanks, 32
Profile: Tampa Bay somewhat surprisingly declined its $11 million option on Fairbanks for 2026, opting to allocate their limited resources to other parts of the roster and make way for a wealth of younger (and cheaper) relievers to step up and handle the high-leverage innings moving forward. It’s something of an abrupt end to the right-hander’s Tampa tenure, as Fairbanks was the team’s longest-tenured pitcher, having arrived via trade in 2019 and establishing himself as a trusted late-inning arm for manager Kevin Cash. A reliable setup man early in his career, Fairbanks eventually evolved into a more traditional closer; he’s one of just nine relievers with at least 20 saves in each of the past three seasons.
The most encouraging thing about Fairbanks’ 2025 was that he avoided the injured list, appearing in a career-high 61 games after battling a bevy of ailments over the prior three years. Less promising was a second straight season with a strikeout rate hovering around 24%, a steep decline from the gaudy 35% he posted from 2020 to ‘23. Still, Fairbanks recorded a career-high 27 saves with a 2.83 ERA, so he found ways to get the job done.
Potential fits: Fairbanks’ declining velocity and strikeout rates might not portend many more years as a no-doubt ninth-inning option, but he’s still pretty clearly someone who can improve a lot of bullpens around the league, as evidenced by the rapidly growing list of teams that have reportedly been connected to the right-hander early in his free agency.
Of those teams, Arizona and Detroit look like the best fits. The D-backs represent an ideal landing spot if Fairbanks is hoping to remain a closer in the short-term, and the Tigers could be a nice fit if he wants a pitcher-friendly ballpark and is cool with handling setup duties in deference to Will Vest.
As is often the case early in baseball’s offseason calendar, the reliever market has seen some significant movement before the other segments of free agency really get rolling, as several notable bullpen arms have found new contracts and/or new teams in recent weeks.
It began with the Cubs inking right-hander Phil Maton to a two-year, $14.5 million deal, a sensible match considering the vacancies in Chicago’s bullpen and Maton’s sneaky strong 2025. Then a couple of arms with prior late-inning experience but also significant recent injury issues found new homes, with former Tigers closer Alex Lange signing with Kansas City and talented lefty Sam Hentges joining San Francisco after some stellar years with Cleveland.
The reliever market has been moving — and with the winter meetings next week, that trend is expected to continue — but there are still enticing options available for bullpen-needy clubs to address their later innings. With Williams (No. 27), Helsley (No. 33) and Iglesias (No. 45) off the board, here’s a look at the status of and potential landing spots for the four other relievers on our Top 50 free agent rankings, plus one more high-profile closer who joined the free-agent pool unexpectedly last month.
No. 11: RHP Edwin Díaz, 32 years old
Profile: Díaz is a game-ending monster, plain and simple. His overpowering fastball-slider combination presents a particularly unpleasant coin-flip for opposing hitters trying to start any sort of rally against him, and while his command and control occasionally elude him, his stuff is often more than good enough to overcome any shortcomings with location. 2025 was also one of his best seasons yet, prompting Díaz to opt out of the two years and $38 million remaining on his contract and reenter the open market as the best closer available.
Potential fits: If Díaz is indeed seeking a contract similar to the record-setting, five-year, $102 million deal he garnered during his first trip to free agency three years ago, that obviously limits the number of teams that could plausibly be in pursuit of the right-hander. Interestingly, one of those teams, the defending champion, deep-pocketed Dodgers, is reportedly not as inclined to chase a reliever at that exorbitant price and length of contract — perhaps in response to how poorly last year’s outlay to land Tanner Scott went.
If the Dodgers are focusing their efforts elsewhere in the reliever market, a reunion with the Mets — the other team most willing to stretch their payroll to stratospheric heights — looks like where this is headed. By signing Williams and trading away outfield staple Brandon Nimmo, president of baseball operations David Stearns has made it clear he’s willing to shake up the Mets’ roster, regardless of sentimentality. But adding Williams should not preclude New York from retaining Díaz, considering how badly the bullpen needed upgrading at the outset of the winter.
Indeed, pairing Williams with Díaz rather than replacing him would go a long way toward turning the relief corps in Queens into a legitimate strength, rather than running it back with an undermanned unit. It might take some time for the two sides to find common ground on another mega-deal, but Díaz staying put still feels like the likeliest outcome.
No. 28: RHP Robert Suarez, 35
Profile: Suarez is a bit older than some of the other top names on our free-agent rankings, having not debuted in the majors until age 31 following a tremendously successful run as a reliever in Japan. But his four seasons as a Padre — and particularly the past two, when he racked up an MLB-leading 76 saves — were plenty good enough to warrant Suarez declining his $8 million player option for 2026 in search of a more lucrative multiyear deal, even as he enters his late-30s.
Suarez throws extremely hard and attacks relentlessly with both a four-seamer and a sinker, relying on a nasty changeup when he needs a whiff; there’s no breaking ball to be found here (at least not recently). But because of his top-tier velocity and rare ability to fill up the strike zone as a modern, late-inning reliever, Suarez has been tremendously effective and should continue to be as long as he’s lighting up radar guns. How long his elite heat will last, however, is a worthy question for teams to ponder as they consider committing big dollars to Suarez.
Potential fits: If Díaz ends up returning to Queens, Suarez could be primed for a bidding war between the defending pennant winners to land him on a shorter-term, high-AAV deal. The Dodgers might not want to give Suarez or any reliever more than two years, but that might not be a problem here, considering Suarez’s age. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have been as aggressive as any team in upgrading their pitching so far this winter.
(From right) Edwin Díaz, Robert Suarez and Luke Weaver are among the relief arms still available on the free-agent market.
Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports
No. 32: RHP Luke Weaver, 32
Profile: After a full-blown breakout with New York in 2024 as a reborn relief ace following years as an unremarkable starter, Weaver continued to shine early in the 2025 season amidst Devin Williams’ dramatic struggles. But while Williams quietly excelled down the stretch, Weaver got notably worse as the season went on and never looked the same after returning from a midseason hamstring injury.
Like Suarez but with merely good, not elite, velocity, Weaver succeeds without much of a breaking ball, leaning heavily on his four-seam fastball and changeup, with the occasional cutter mixed in. Even with the limited mix, Weaver generally throws strikes and yields both chase and whiff at high rates, a promising combination of skills for a late-inning arm. His most glaring weakness is a proclivity to allow a ton of airborne contact and, in turn, a few too many long balls for comfort for someone handling high leverage. That could make his next home ballpark a worthwhile factor to consider when evaluating his potential landing spots.
Potential fits: Unlike Díaz and Suarez, who in all likelihood will handle the ninth inning for whichever team signs them, Weaver does not need to go to a team that needs a capital-C closer. He has proven effective both in a closing role and as more of a traditional setup guy, broadening his appeal to a wider array of teams seeking bullpen reinforcements. Funnily enough, several of Weaver’s former clubs with which he didn’t have much success look like solid fits for him now, such as Arizona, Cincinnati and Seattle.
But for the purposes of this exercise, let’s pair Weaver with a new team that would mark the seventh major-league club of his winding career: San Francisco. Oracle Park is exactly the kind of homer-unfriendly venue that could help mask Weaver’s flyball tendencies, and the Giants clearly need bullpen help, ranking 29th on FanGraphs Depth Charts’ projecting WAR at each position. Without Randy Rodriguez, who will be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery to start 2026, Ryan Walker is the only proven Giants reliever in-house. Adding Weaver wouldn’t break the bank and would address an obvious need.
No. 44: RHP Brad Keller, 30
Profile: By far the least accomplished free-agent reliever on our Top 50, Keller emerged as a surprising late-inning weapon for the Cubs in 2024, thanks to newfound velocity and decent command of an unusually deep pitch mix for a reliever. That varied arsenal makes sense considering Keller’s background as a starter in Kansas City and could play a role in his future, as some teams might contemplate signing Keller with the intention of converting him back to a rotation role.
Keller’s relative youth could also factor into the calculus for teams, as it makes it far more likely he could command a two- or even three-year deal, even with just one year of great performance to his name. With encouraging underlying indicators suggesting that his 2025 was far from a fluke — he was getting a ton of ground balls and whiffs as a Cub — Keller is clearly a name to watch for teams targeting upside. That’s true whether he stays in the bullpen or returns to the rotation.
Potential fits: With the possibility of Keller starting and the wide range of opinions his age-29 breakout has inspired, Keller’s market is particularly difficult to pin down; he has a vast array of possible suitors. To highlight one, let’s go with the one team that ranks below San Francisco in projected bullpen WAR as things stand: the Texas Rangers.
Outside of left-hander Robert Garcia, who was acquired in a trade last winter, the Rangers have a boatload of bullpen innings to backfill, with the likes of Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Jacob Webb, Chris Martin and Phil Maton hitting free agency. Keller could be an intriguing start to those efforts — or even a low-cost candidate to compete for a spot in a Texas rotation that could also use some help.
NR: RHP Pete Fairbanks, 32
Profile: Tampa Bay somewhat surprisingly declined its $11 million option on Fairbanks for 2026, opting to allocate their limited resources to other parts of the roster and make way for a wealth of younger (and cheaper) relievers to step up and handle the high-leverage innings moving forward. It’s something of an abrupt end to the right-hander’s Tampa tenure, as Fairbanks was the team’s longest-tenured pitcher, having arrived via trade in 2019 and establishing himself as a trusted late-inning arm for manager Kevin Cash. A reliable setup man early in his career, Fairbanks eventually evolved into a more traditional closer; he’s one of just nine relievers with at least 20 saves in each of the past three seasons.
The most encouraging thing about Fairbanks’ 2025 was that he avoided the injured list, appearing in a career-high 61 games after battling a bevy of ailments over the prior three years. Less promising was a second straight season with a strikeout rate hovering around 24%, a steep decline from the gaudy 35% he posted from 2020 to ‘23. Still, Fairbanks recorded a career-high 27 saves with a 2.83 ERA, so he found ways to get the job done.
Potential fits: Fairbanks’ declining velocity and strikeout rates might not portend many more years as a no-doubt ninth-inning option, but he’s still pretty clearly someone who can improve a lot of bullpens around the league, as evidenced by the rapidly growing list of teams that have reportedly been connected to the right-hander early in his free agency.
Of those teams, Arizona and Detroit look like the best fits. The D-backs represent an ideal landing spot if Fairbanks is hoping to remain a closer in the short-term, and the Tigers could be a nice fit if he wants a pitcher-friendly ballpark and is cool with handling setup duties in deference to Will Vest.
Let the broader basketball-discussing world focus its collective attention on the question of what a future without Giannis Antetokounmpo might look like for the Milwaukee Bucks. Doc Rivers and Co. have a more pressing concern on their hands: Figuring out how to better navigate the present without him.
Hours after a fresh (or, at least, reheated) round of reports that Antetokounmpo and his agent have “started conversations” about whether his “best fit is staying or elsewhere” began to circulate, the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player hit the floor in a heap three minutes into the Bucks’ Wednesday meeting with the East-leading Detroit Pistons, and he stayed there. After walking gingerly off the court and back to the locker room, Antetokounmpo wouldn’t return.
Given the nature of what appeared to be a non-contact injury, many NBA fans who’ve seen toomanysuperstars suffer catastrophic lower-leg injuries of late began fearing for the worst. Thankfully, a follow-up MRI ruled that out: Antetokounmpo suffered a right calf strain, and while the Bucks have yet to provide a timetable for his anticipated return, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported he’s “expected to be sidelined for approximately two to four weeks.”
Compared to the worst-case scenarios pondered during those first heart-stopping moments after Antetokounmpo went down, this diagnosis seems like cause for celebration. Considering how perilous it can be to come back too soon from a strained calf, though, it wouldn’t be shocking for the powers that be in Milwaukee to err on the side of caution in getting Giannis back in action, and for his absence to veer toward the longer end of that projected window.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after an apparent injury against the Detroit Pistons during the first quarter at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 3, 2025.
Patrick McDermott via Getty Images
Two weeks away would only cost Antetokounmpo five games, thanks to how the Bucks’ schedule spaces out around the upcoming Emirates NBA Cup knockout rounds. Four weeks would cost him 12 — which, since Antetokounmpo has already missed six games this season, would mean he couldn’t reach the 65-game minimum threshold to retain eligibility for year-end individual awards like Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, as well as recognition on the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams. His exclusion would be massive, and rare: Antetokounmpo has finished in the top four in MVP voting after each of the last seven seasons, and has earned an All-NBA nod every year since 2017, including seven consecutive First Team selections.
Antetokounmpo was well on his way to cementing his spot at or near the top of those ballots yet again through the opening weeks of the 2025-26 NBA season, turning in arguably the best start of his Hall of Fame career. Heading into Wednesday’s action, Giannis ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 30.6 points in 30.8 minutes per game on 63.9% shooting; was ninth in rebounding, hauling in 10.7 boards a night; and 24th in assists, dishing 6.4 helpers per game, right behind reigning MVP point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Playing largely as Milwaukee’s primary ball-handler and half-court initiator, Antetokounmpo has notched the dime on 41.6% of his teammates’ buckets during his time on the court, by far the highest assist rate of his career. The brand of high-usage, high-assist, low-turnover ball he’s been playing belongs in the context of elite offensive engines like LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Trae Young, and the peak versions of Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook and Ja Morant.
Combine that with his customary devastating interior scoring — he leads the NBA with 338 points in the paint in 495 minutes played; the four players immediately after him have all played more than 700 — and the massive value he adds as an interior deterrent, holding opponents by 47.6% shooting at the rim when he’s the nearest defender (the fourth-stingiest mark among 120 players to contest at least 50 up-close shots), and you’ve got one unbelievably valuable player. Depending on how you define your terms, perhaps the most valuable one: The Bucks have outscored opponents by 8.5 points per 100 possessions with Giannis on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass, and have been outscored by 10.4 points-per-100 with him off it. That 18.9 points-per-100 differential is the third-largest on/off swing in the NBA among players who’ve logged at least 400 minutes, behind only Nikola Jokić and Pascal Siakam, doing yeoman’s work on the injury-ravaged Pacers.
The Bucks have the point differential of a 60-win team with Giannis on the floor and an 18-win team without him; they’re 8-7 in games he finishes, 1-1 in games he’s left early due to injury, and 1-5 in games he’s missed. They can’t just replace him. So: What can they do?
Well, for starters, they can try to replicate the formula they found on Wednesday — when, BTW, they actually won the game — by leaning more heavily into the shot creation of their guards, and finding out just how significant a workload the combination of rising playmaker Ryan Rollins and the just-returned Kevin Porter Jr. can shoulder.
The Rollins-Porter backcourt combined for 48 points and 15 assists in the win over Detroit — a strong showing for a partnership that, thanks to a left ankle sprain that kept Porter sidelined for more than a month, has really only just begun. The Bucks have outscored opponents by 24 points in the 58 minutes that Rollins and Porter have played together, scoring efficiently and sharing the ball well.
Both Rollins (a team-high 12.5 drives per game) and Porter (11.3) can get downhill and put pressure on the rim, which could prove valuable for a Bucks team that, even with Giannis’ metronomic marauding, ranks just 14th in the share of its shots that come inside the restricted area — a rate that, as you’d expect, plunges to near-bottom-of-the-league levels without him on the floor. And if those forays to the paint can produce kickout passes to waiting shooters, so much the better: No player has assisted on more 3-pointers per 100 possessions than Antetokounmpo, according to PBP Stats, and shooters like AJ Green (a scorching 49.7% from deep on just under seven attempts per game, with the bulk of the helpers coming from Giannis) will need someone else to set ’em up so they can knock ’em down.
Generating as many of those sorts of setups as possible will likely be vital to Milwaukee’s chances of staying afloat offensively in Antetokounmpo’s absence. The Bucks made only 13 3-pointers against Detroit on Wednesday, but they launched 44, tied for their third-highest total of the season. Their second-highest total, 46, came Oct. 30 against the Warriors — another game Giannis missed, and that saw Rollins author a breakout performance against his former club in a 120-110 win.
Without a floor-tilting offensive centerpiece like Antetokounmpo, Rivers’ best bet might be encouraging Rollins, Porter, Green and Gary Trent Jr., as well as pick-and-pop targets Myles Turner and Bobby Portis, to fire away as early as often as possible. Cranking up the 3-point volume and, with it, the offensive variance in the game could improve the chances of a Bucks team that has allowed 118.6 points-per-100 with Antetokounmpo off the floor this season — a figure that goes up to an even 120 points-per-100 when Giannis sits and Kyle Kuzma is on the floor. (A 120 defensive rating, for context, would put the Bucks shoulder-to-shoulder with the 6-16 Charlotte Hornets for 20th in the NBA over the course of the full season.)
Kuzma started the last five games for which the big fella has been unavailable. (The quintet of Turner, Kuzma, Green, Porter and Rollins has played just two minutes together this season.) He’s looked more comfortable and been more productive as a reserve, though. With Taurean Prince sidelined after surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck, and with the prospect of extending Portis’ minutes too much unlikely to serve as a salve for Milwaukee on either end, you wonder whether Rivers will decide to ride with what worked Wednesday and take a longer look at little-used reserve big man Jericho Sims, who seized the opportunity after Giannis’ surprise exit by chipping in a stunning 15 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.
An über-athletic, offensive board-crashing rim runner whose minutes and opportunities waxed and waned under Tom Thibodeau in New York, Sims would offer a different element for Milwaukee, which has tended to operate with stretch-5s and eschew the offensive glass in favor of getting back in transition defense (long a staple of Rivers’ teams). He might not offer quite enough polish and versatility on either end of the floor to cement himself as a rotation piece for a Bucks team that has its sights set on trying to compete for titles … but for a squad looking to just batten down the hatches and weather the storm while its superstar is unavailable, every option with potential upside merits an examination.
That, however faint, is the silver lining of the gray cloud that settled over the Bucks on Wednesday, first in the form of the renewed reporting over Giannis’ prospective exit and then in the much more tangible form of his actual departure due to injury. Rivers, general manager Jon Horst, the rest of Milwaukee’s braintrust and the remainder of the players in the Bucks locker room now have several weeks with which to renew the exploration of what they’re capable of in a Giannis-less context. To see just how much of the offense Porter Jr. and Rollins can commandeer, and how effectively they can do it; whether the likes of Green, Kuzma and even Sims can step comfortably into larger roles; and whether Rivers, who has come under fire during this underwhelming start to the season, can push the right buttons to steady the ship while Antetokounmpo’s on the shelf.
“The reason that this [reporting on Antetokounmpo’s future] is out is because we’re not playing well,” Rivers told reporters before Wednesday’s game. “So, let’s just call a spade a spade. We’re not playing well. We had a tough loss the other night, and so now this is the subject matter. We feel very good about this team, but we have to play better. We have to win games. And until we start winning games, this is going to be out here. We rip off 10 in a row, [and] my guess is this is magically going to disappear.”
The Bucks’ next 10 games include home meetings with the 76ers, Celtics and Raptors, visits to Detroit and Brooklyn, and a five-game road trip that will take them from Minnesota to Indiana, Memphis and Chicago before wrapping up in Charlotte. It’s not the most unforgiving slate you’ve ever seen; it also features a number of teams that have been playing better than the Bucks have of late, especially without Antetokounmpo in the lineup.
Stay afloat over these next few weeks, with Rollins and/or Porter Jr. showing enough shot-creation/playmaking upside to introduce the possibility that there’s a second breakout star on the roster, and maybe the impending “resolution” on the reported discussions leans toward the warm and familiar embrace of inertia: Giannis deciding this is a team worth sticking around for, particularly if the Bucks are willing to pony up that four-year, $275 million maximum-salaried contract extension come next October. Fall apart like they did in losing four straight when he was sidelined by the adductor strain — the losing streak that kicked up all that nasty “was it actually a trade request or not?” chatter — and maybe Antetokounmpo finds himself actually plainly reading aloud that purported writing on the wall.
“We’ll rally behind him, he’ll rally for us,” Green told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “Just gotta get healthy and try to hold it down as long as we can.”
Let the broader basketball-discussing world focus its collective attention on the question of what a future without Giannis Antetokounmpo might look like for the Milwaukee Bucks. Doc Rivers and Co. have a more pressing concern on their hands: Figuring out how to better navigate the present without him.
Hours after a fresh (or, at least, reheated) round of reports that Antetokounmpo and his agent have “started conversations” about whether his “best fit is staying or elsewhere” began to circulate, the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player hit the floor in a heap three minutes into the Bucks’ Wednesday meeting with the East-leading Detroit Pistons, and he stayed there. After walking gingerly off the court and back to the locker room, Antetokounmpo wouldn’t return.
Given the nature of what appeared to be a non-contact injury, many NBA fans who’ve seen toomanysuperstars suffer catastrophic lower-leg injuries of late began fearing for the worst. Thankfully, a follow-up MRI ruled that out: Antetokounmpo suffered a right calf strain, and while the Bucks have yet to provide a timetable for his anticipated return, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported he’s “expected to be sidelined for approximately two to four weeks.”
Compared to the worst-case scenarios pondered during those first heart-stopping moments after Antetokounmpo went down, this diagnosis seems like cause for celebration. Considering how perilous it can be to come back too soon from a strained calf, though, it wouldn’t be shocking for the powers that be in Milwaukee to err on the side of caution in getting Giannis back in action, and for his absence to veer toward the longer end of that projected window.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after an apparent injury against the Detroit Pistons during the first quarter at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 3, 2025.
Patrick McDermott via Getty Images
Two weeks away would only cost Antetokounmpo five games, thanks to how the Bucks’ schedule spaces out around the upcoming Emirates NBA Cup knockout rounds. Four weeks would cost him 12 — which, since Antetokounmpo has already missed six games this season, would mean he couldn’t reach the 65-game minimum threshold to retain eligibility for year-end individual awards like Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, as well as recognition on the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams. His exclusion would be massive, and rare: Antetokounmpo has finished in the top four in MVP voting after each of the last seven seasons, and has earned an All-NBA nod every year since 2017, including seven consecutive First Team selections.
Antetokounmpo was well on his way to cementing his spot at or near the top of those ballots yet again through the opening weeks of the 2025-26 NBA season, turning in arguably the best start of his Hall of Fame career. Heading into Wednesday’s action, Giannis ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 30.6 points in 30.8 minutes per game on 63.9% shooting; was ninth in rebounding, hauling in 10.7 boards a night; and 24th in assists, dishing 6.4 helpers per game, right behind reigning MVP point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Playing largely as Milwaukee’s primary ball-handler and half-court initiator, Antetokounmpo has notched the dime on 41.6% of his teammates’ buckets during his time on the court, by far the highest assist rate of his career. The brand of high-usage, high-assist, low-turnover ball he’s been playing belongs in the context of elite offensive engines like LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Trae Young, and the peak versions of Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook and Ja Morant.
Combine that with his customary devastating interior scoring — he leads the NBA with 338 points in the paint in 495 minutes played; the four players immediately after him have all played more than 700 — and the massive value he adds as an interior deterrent, holding opponents by 47.6% shooting at the rim when he’s the nearest defender (the fourth-stingiest mark among 120 players to contest at least 50 up-close shots), and you’ve got one unbelievably valuable player. Depending on how you define your terms, perhaps the most valuable one: The Bucks have outscored opponents by 8.5 points per 100 possessions with Giannis on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass, and have been outscored by 10.4 points-per-100 with him off it. That 18.9 points-per-100 differential is the third-largest on/off swing in the NBA among players who’ve logged at least 400 minutes, behind only Nikola Jokić and Pascal Siakam, doing yeoman’s work on the injury-ravaged Pacers.
The Bucks have the point differential of a 60-win team with Giannis on the floor and an 18-win team without him; they’re 8-7 in games he finishes, 1-1 in games he’s left early due to injury, and 1-5 in games he’s missed. They can’t just replace him. So: What can they do?
Well, for starters, they can try to replicate the formula they found on Wednesday — when, BTW, they actually won the game — by leaning more heavily into the shot creation of their guards, and finding out just how significant a workload the combination of rising playmaker Ryan Rollins and the just-returned Kevin Porter Jr. can shoulder.
The Rollins-Porter backcourt combined for 48 points and 15 assists in the win over Detroit — a strong showing for a partnership that, thanks to a left ankle sprain that kept Porter sidelined for more than a month, has really only just begun. The Bucks have outscored opponents by 24 points in the 58 minutes that Rollins and Porter have played together, scoring efficiently and sharing the ball well.
Both Rollins (a team-high 12.5 drives per game) and Porter (11.3) can get downhill and put pressure on the rim, which could prove valuable for a Bucks team that, even with Giannis’ metronomic marauding, ranks just 14th in the share of its shots that come inside the restricted area — a rate that, as you’d expect, plunges to near-bottom-of-the-league levels without him on the floor. And if those forays to the paint can produce kickout passes to waiting shooters, so much the better: No player has assisted on more 3-pointers per 100 possessions than Antetokounmpo, according to PBP Stats, and shooters like AJ Green (a scorching 49.7% from deep on just under seven attempts per game, with the bulk of the helpers coming from Giannis) will need someone else to set ’em up so they can knock ’em down.
Generating as many of those sorts of setups as possible will likely be vital to Milwaukee’s chances of staying afloat offensively in Antetokounmpo’s absence. The Bucks made only 13 3-pointers against Detroit on Wednesday, but they launched 44, tied for their third-highest total of the season. Their second-highest total, 46, came Oct. 30 against the Warriors — another game Giannis missed, and that saw Rollins author a breakout performance against his former club in a 120-110 win.
Without a floor-tilting offensive centerpiece like Antetokounmpo, Rivers’ best bet might be encouraging Rollins, Porter, Green and Gary Trent Jr., as well as pick-and-pop targets Myles Turner and Bobby Portis, to fire away as early as often as possible. Cranking up the 3-point volume and, with it, the offensive variance in the game could improve the chances of a Bucks team that has allowed 118.6 points-per-100 with Antetokounmpo off the floor this season — a figure that goes up to an even 120 points-per-100 when Giannis sits and Kyle Kuzma is on the floor. (A 120 defensive rating, for context, would put the Bucks shoulder-to-shoulder with the 6-16 Charlotte Hornets for 20th in the NBA over the course of the full season.)
Kuzma started the last five games for which the big fella has been unavailable. (The quintet of Turner, Kuzma, Green, Porter and Rollins has played just two minutes together this season.) He’s looked more comfortable and been more productive as a reserve, though. With Taurean Prince sidelined after surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck, and with the prospect of extending Portis’ minutes too much unlikely to serve as a salve for Milwaukee on either end, you wonder whether Rivers will decide to ride with what worked Wednesday and take a longer look at little-used reserve big man Jericho Sims, who seized the opportunity after Giannis’ surprise exit by chipping in a stunning 15 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.
An über-athletic, offensive board-crashing rim runner whose minutes and opportunities waxed and waned under Tom Thibodeau in New York, Sims would offer a different element for Milwaukee, which has tended to operate with stretch-5s and eschew the offensive glass in favor of getting back in transition defense (long a staple of Rivers’ teams). He might not offer quite enough polish and versatility on either end of the floor to cement himself as a rotation piece for a Bucks team that has its sights set on trying to compete for titles … but for a squad looking to just batten down the hatches and weather the storm while its superstar is unavailable, every option with potential upside merits an examination.
That, however faint, is the silver lining of the gray cloud that settled over the Bucks on Wednesday, first in the form of the renewed reporting over Giannis’ prospective exit and then in the much more tangible form of his actual departure due to injury. Rivers, general manager Jon Horst, the rest of Milwaukee’s braintrust and the remainder of the players in the Bucks locker room now have several weeks with which to renew the exploration of what they’re capable of in a Giannis-less context. To see just how much of the offense Porter Jr. and Rollins can commandeer, and how effectively they can do it; whether the likes of Green, Kuzma and even Sims can step comfortably into larger roles; and whether Rivers, who has come under fire during this underwhelming start to the season, can push the right buttons to steady the ship while Antetokounmpo’s on the shelf.
“The reason that this [reporting on Antetokounmpo’s future] is out is because we’re not playing well,” Rivers told reporters before Wednesday’s game. “So, let’s just call a spade a spade. We’re not playing well. We had a tough loss the other night, and so now this is the subject matter. We feel very good about this team, but we have to play better. We have to win games. And until we start winning games, this is going to be out here. We rip off 10 in a row, [and] my guess is this is magically going to disappear.”
The Bucks’ next 10 games include home meetings with the 76ers, Celtics and Raptors, visits to Detroit and Brooklyn, and a five-game road trip that will take them from Minnesota to Indiana, Memphis and Chicago before wrapping up in Charlotte. It’s not the most unforgiving slate you’ve ever seen; it also features a number of teams that have been playing better than the Bucks have of late, especially without Antetokounmpo in the lineup.
Stay afloat over these next few weeks, with Rollins and/or Porter Jr. showing enough shot-creation/playmaking upside to introduce the possibility that there’s a second breakout star on the roster, and maybe the impending “resolution” on the reported discussions leans toward the warm and familiar embrace of inertia: Giannis deciding this is a team worth sticking around for, particularly if the Bucks are willing to pony up that four-year, $275 million maximum-salaried contract extension come next October. Fall apart like they did in losing four straight when he was sidelined by the adductor strain — the losing streak that kicked up all that nasty “was it actually a trade request or not?” chatter — and maybe Antetokounmpo finds himself actually plainly reading aloud that purported writing on the wall.
“We’ll rally behind him, he’ll rally for us,” Green told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “Just gotta get healthy and try to hold it down as long as we can.”
Paul “absolutely” does not want to retire mid-season, reports Marc Spears of ESPN.
“Does he want to retire, is he done? I was told absolutely not.” @MarcJSpears on Chris Paul after being sent home from the Clippers pic.twitter.com/XVzDyEcTrH
Paul, who signed a veteran minimum contract with the Clippers this summer, cannot be traded until after Dec. 15 and the Clippers reportedly will look to find a new home for the future Hall of Famer. However, any teams that have any interest in him would rather wait to pick him up on the buyout market after the trade deadline — or, after the Clippers just release him — than give up anything in a trade.
Paul is known for being a very vocal leader, unafraid to call out anyone — teammates, coaches, management — in meetings and in private, and over the course of his career, that has worn thin at places. With the Clippers stumbling out of the gate, the relationship between Paul and coach Tyronn Lue reportedly grew strained, to the point that they were no longer speaking. That’s when the decision to send Paul home and keep him away from the team was made.
Whatever one thinks of the reasoning, the Clippers’ handling of Paul’s exit — with the news leaking at nearly 3 AM Eastern while the team was in Atlanta — was not smooth. It caught Clippers players off guard, as they told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“I’m just as confused and shocked as you guys, the world,” (James) Harden said … “Definitely surprised me. But not just Chris, it’s a lot that we were dealing with. But that is out of my hands. I got to focus on what I got to focus on and what I can control. I guess the front office felt that was the best decision for the organization.”
“It was shocking to me,” (Kawhi) Leonard said. “I guess they had a conversation, and front office made a decision.”
The Clippers did go out after all this drama and picked up a quality win in Atlanta, 115-92. LA is still 6-16 on the season and sitting 13th in the West.
Here are the latest news updates and possible return dates for Knicks players…
Dec. 4, 5:10 p.m.
The Knicks are seemingly close to getting OG Anunoby back. According to SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley, Anunoby (hamstring) has been upgraded to questionable for Friday’s game against the Utah Jazz at MSG.
Begley noted on Thursday’s episode of The Putback that this weekend’s games are a target for the Knicks to get Anunoby back on the court.
Anunoby has missed every game since suffering the injury on Nov. 14 against the Miami Heat.
Head coach Mike Brown said that Anunoby has progressed to taking contact in practice and it seems as though the forward is reacting to it in a positive manner. Of course, this doesn’t mean Anunoby will play on Friday, but it leaves open the possibility.
Dec. 3, 6:40 p.m.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown gave a short update on OG Anunoby (hamstring). The coach said that Anunoby has progressed to taking contact in practice.
“It’s still the same, he’s still progressing in the right direction,” Brown said of Anunoby before Wednesday’s game against the Hornets. “We’re not going to rush him.”
Brown also confirmed that Mitchell Robinson (injury management) will miss Wednesday’s game, as it’s the second of a back-to-back.
Mike Brown said that OG Anunoby has taken contact in practice but the Knicks “won’t rush him” pic.twitter.com/tZLSHsXqY0
Jalen Brunson (ankle) will return to the court and start on Wednesday night in Dallas against the Mavericks, the team announced prior to tip-off.
Brunson suffered a Grade 1 right ankle sprain against the Orlando Magic on Nov. 12 and missed the team’s next two games against the Miami Heat. New York split the two contests, winning at home and losing on the road. The team is still searching for its first road win of the season, dropping all four games away from the Garden.
Over 11 games this year, Brunson is averaging 28.0 points on 46.7 percent shooting and 6.5 assists per game.
Meanwhile, the Mavs will be without rookie Cooper Flagg (illness) on Wednesday night as he’ll miss the first game of his career.
Nov. 18, 6:50 p.m.
The Knicks upgraded Jalen Brunson (ankle) to questionable for their Wednesday tip against the Mavericks in Dallas.
Brunson had missed the team’s last two games since suffering a right ankle sprain back on Nov. 12 against the Orlando Magic at MSG. Already without OG Anunoby (hamstring), the Knicks could use their captain to try and get their first road win of the season.
Oct. 28, 7:18 p.m.
Before the Knicks’ tip-off against the Bucks, the Knicks announced that Towns (right quad strain) will play, but Yabusele (left knee sprain) will be out, joining McBride (personal) and Robinson (ankle sprain management) as players who are unavailable for Tuesday’s game.
Oct. 28, 3:35 p.m.
Miles McBride has been downgraded from questionable to out for the Knicks’ game on Tuesday at the Milwaukee Bucks, the team announced. This is the second-straight game the guard missed due to personal reasons. He was out for Sunday’s loss against the Miami Heat.
Oct. 27, 6:45 p.m.
Mitchell Robinson still isn’t ready to make his season debut, as the Knicks have officially ruled him out again for Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Robinson has been sidelined for the first three games due to left ankle injury management, and it’s still unknown when he’ll make his return to the court.
New York has also listed Karl-Anthony Towns (right quad strain), Miles McBride (personal reasons), and Guerschon Yabusele (left knee sprain) as questionable for the contest.
Yabusele is the only new addition to the injury report. Towns has been included heading into each of the first three games, but played in all three, and McBride missed Sunday’s game against the Heat for personal reasons.
Yabusele left Sunday’s game at one point and had his knee checked, but he was able to return and saw regular time off the bench down the stretch.
Oct. 23, 6:10 p.m.
The latest NBA injury report has been released and the Knicks have designated center Mitchell Robinson (left ankle injury management) as out for Friday’s home game against the Celtics.
Robinson missed Wednesday’s season opener and the Knicks are being cautious with their big man this season as they want to have him at close to full strength for an anticipated long playoff run.
The Knicks have also designated both Josh Hart (lower back) and Karl-Anthony Towns (right quad strain) as questionable.
Hart also missed the season opener but has not seen action since the first preseason game where he tweaked his back. Towns almost missed Wednesday’s game but toughed out his quad strain and to help the Knicks’ win against the Cavaliers.
OG Anunoby, who played Wednesday despite being questionable with an ankle sprain, is probably for Friday’s game.
Oct. 22, 10:59 p.m.
Karl-Anthony Towns was questionable, then doubtful, then questionable again in the hours leading up to the Knicks’ win over the Cavaliers and now we know exactly why.
The Knicks forward told reporters after Wednesday’s win that he is playing through a Grade 2 quad strain.
“I’ve been banged up and haven’t really got a chance to practice or play in the last two preseason games,” Towns said. “I didn’t want to disappoint the fans, dealing with a Grade 2 quad strain. It’s not something that’s easy to do. We made it happen tonight. Glad the fans respect the effort I put in to play tonight, and my teammates, too. Shoutout to them for supporting me, knowing the situation that I was in.”
Towns played through the pain to give the Knicks 19 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes.
On Nov. 23 and 24, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced a back-to-back, at home on Sunday against the struggling Clippers, then on the road Monday against the impressive Raptors, with their high-pressure defense. The Cavaliers chose to start Darius Garland in the game they most expected to win — against the Clippers — and rested him on Monday night in Toronto.
That decision will cost Toronto $250,000 for violating the NBA’s player participation policy, a fine the league announced Thursday.
That Monday Toronto game was nationally televised as part of Peacock NBA Monday and “the violation occurred when the Cavaliers failed to make Garland available for the team’s nationally-televised game on Nov. 24 and instead made him available on Nov. 23 which was not a nationally-televised game,” the NBA said in its statement announcing the fine.
The league determined that Garland could have played both halves of the back-to-back. Garland has played in just eight of the Cavaliers’ 23 games this season, battling a toe issue that slowed him in last season’s playoffs.
The $250,000 sum was because this was the Cavaliers second violation of the player participation policy. Cleveland had previously been fined $100,000 for sitting Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley against Miami earlier in November. After that fine, Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said, “I gotta look at the Cavs’ best interest.” I think my No. 1 job is to protect the health of our players.”
With the 16 members of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee scheduled to meet Sunday, the first day of MLB’s 2025 winter meetings, and possibly elect the first members of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, most of the attention has been on the two most famous names on the ballot.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are once again up for induction. And while much of the discussion has focused on whether their alleged ties to performance-enhancing drugs should continue to be held against them, there are six other names on the ballot who merit Hall consideration of their own.
With that in mind, we’re making the cases for three other former players who could get the call to Cooperstown this weekend.
Carlos Delgado
On the surface, Carlos Delgado lacks the traditional accolades associated with Hall of Famers. He made only two All-Star Games across his 17-year career. He won three Silver Slugger awards but never won an MVP, coming closest in 2003, when he finished a close runner-up to Alex Rodriguez. And though Delgado performed quite well in his lone trip to October with the Mets in 2006 (1.199 OPS), his lack of experience on baseball’s biggest stage made it difficult for his subtle star power to stand out relative to his peers. These shortcomings — plus the unfortunate timing of his debuting on a particularly crowded ballot in 2015 — help explain why he received just 3.8% of the vote on the BBWAA ballot, falling below the 5% support required to stay on for another year.
But while Delgado might not have seized nearly as many headlines during his career as some of the other candidates on this year’s Contemporary Baseball Era Player Ballot, his body of work is certainly worthy of reconsideration.
Although he came up through the minors as a catcher, Delgado almost exclusively played first base in the big leagues, which limited his defensive value during his career, suppressing his career WAR (44.4) to a total rarely commensurate with Cooperstown entry. But from a purely offensive standpoint, Delgado’s case is compelling. While his 2003 campaign featuring a league-leading 145 RBI marked his highest MVP finish, Delgado’s 2000 season stands out as his peak with the bat. He started all 162 games for Toronto and hit an astonishing .344/.470/.664, becoming just the third player in MLB history with 50 doubles, 40 homers and 100 walks in a single season, along with Todd Helton that same season and Lou Gehrig in 1927.
That tremendous season marked his most complete offensive output, but let’s be real: Delgado was most known for the dingers. He had 11 30-homer seasons, including 10 in a row from 1997 to 2006. He recorded the ultra-rare four-homer game on Sept. 25, 2003. Quite simply, the most straightforward argument for Delgado’s Hall inclusion can be found by glancing at the all-time home run leaderboard. With 473 career homers, Delgado ranks 34th all time. Of the 33 sluggers ahead of him, only nine aren’t already in Cooperstown: seven due to connections to performance-enhancing drugs (Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield) and two who will be inducted on the first ballot in the next few years (Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera). By that measure, Delgado is far closer to Hall-worthy than his showing on the writers ballot would indicate — and perhaps this year’s committee will recognize as much. — Shusterman
Will one of these former stars get the call to Cooperstown this weekend?
Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports
Fernando Valenzuela
There are, essentially, two arguments for voting a player into the Hall of Fame. The first and most common category is enshrining a player for an overwhelming level of statistical production. By such merit, Fernando Valenzuela’s career numbers fall notably short. After a historically amazing start in his early 20s, the Mexican hurler was definitively below average for the last decade of his career.
But there is also a rationale for celebrating individuals whose careers and accomplishments go beyond on-field output. Valenzuela most certainly checks that box.
As a 20-year-old rookie in 1981, Valenzuela took the sport and the city of Los Angeles by storm, winning the Cy Young Award with a season for the ages. His Dodgers finished the year as World Series champions with a new, passionate and lasting contingent of Mexican-American Angelenos forever entrenched as die-hard fans. That legacy endures today, as the Dodgers remain a vital and vibrant symbol for many Latino communities in Southern California. Fernandomania, in some ways, never ended.
But Valenzuela was more than just an icon; he was also a badass pitcher. His heater rarely if ever creeped above 92 mph, but Valenzuela’s wide array of off-speed pitches and pin-point command made him one of the most imposing arms of his era. From 1981 to 1986, Valenzuela appeared in six consecutive All-Star Games and finished top-five in the Cy Young four times. Injuries and inconsistencies in his late 20s derailed the fairy tale, but “El Toro” was still capable of magic in his later years, most notably with a no-hitter in 1990.
This is the first time since his death in October 2024 that the pugnacious southpaw has appeared on the Eras Ballot. His is a name that belongs among the cultural giants of this great game, a figure whose contributions deserve to be immortalized in Cooperstown. — Mintz
Dale Murphy
Dale Murphy is one of the most intriguing names on this year’s Contemporary Baseball Era ballot. One of the sport’s premier players of the 1980s, Murphy has a strong case as one of the top-10 players in baseball that decade. The outfielder was the centerpiece of the Atlanta Braves’ lineup and performed at a high level for a long time, finishing his 18-year career with 2,111 hits, 350 doubles, 398 home runs and 161 stolen bases.
During his prime, the Braves’ legend was absolutely dominant. He is one of just 30 players in MLB history who won multiple MVP awards. From 1980 to ‘88, only Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt hit more home runs than Murphy. And Murphy was the only player in that span to record at least 200 doubles, 30 triples, 250 home runs, 100 stolen bases and 700 walks. Plus, he was also one of the best defensive center fielders during his peak years in Atlanta, winning the NL Gold Glove Award for center fielders in five consecutive seasons.
The case against Murphy is that the drop-off in performance after his age-32 season was significant, but if you look at the 10 years when he was one of MLB’s best players at a premium position, the case for him to be elected to the Hall of Fame is just as strong. Murphy was dominant in his era, in the same conversation as several of his contemporaries who are already in the Hall of Fame. This could be the year he joins them. — Dorsey
