March 2026

There were 1,682 posts published in March 2026 (this is page 48 of 169).

MLB Opening Day 2026: How different are all 30 teams compared to last season?

Another offseason has come and gone, and another marathon of an MLB season is staring us in the face. To close the book on the winter and set the stage for the season ahead, it’s time to conduct my annual exercise of evaluating all 30 rosters based on how much they changed since last year. This is not about determining whether a squad is better or worse, simply whether they are different.

The methodology is simple and remains the same as it was in 2024 and 2025. Tally every plate appearance taken and inning pitched for each team last season. If the players behind those plate appearances and innings are still in the organization, they qualify as “returning.”

For example, Francisco Lindor recorded an MLB-leading 732 plate appearances in 2025, roughly 11.8% of his team’s trips to the batter’s box. He is still on the Mets, so his plate appearances are returning. The same cannot be said about Pete Alonso (709 plate appearances), Brandon Nimmo (652) or Jeff McNeil (462). By subtracting that trio’s playing time from the Mets’ returning total and comparing the results to teams across the league, we can arrive at an objective measure of how different the new-look Mets are from the 2025 squad, rather than merely marveling at the chaotic roster shuffling that took place in Queens this winter.

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In other words, this is a straightforward avenue to assess roster turnover, a vehicle for answering a popular offseason question: Which teams ran it back, and which teams shook things up?

This exercise also helps capture which fan bases will be adjusting to a larger portion of fresh faces on their teams in 2026 and which will be watching rosters that are largely unchanged.

A crucial caveat to keep in mind: Returning totals do not account for injuries, which can occasionally result in misleading tallies, especially on the mound. Pitchers who delivered a sizable workload last year but are currently injured — such as Pablo López in Minnesota or Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Strider in Atlanta — are still considered part of the team’s “returning” total, even if they won’t be available for most or all of the coming season. This dynamic is especially relevant in the case of the Braves, who technically have retained the second-highest percentage of 2025 innings, but absences could open the door for new arms to cover innings in 2026.

But enough preamble, let’s get to the data and highlight a few teams whose totals stand out on both ends of the spectrum:

The Tigers are running it back in 2026. The Pirates are very much not. (Data compiled on March 20.)
Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports

Welcome to Extreme Makeover: David Stearns Edition. The Mets epitomize this exercise, having overhauled their roster in response to a dismally disappointing 2025 that the front office and ownership evidently viewed as cause for a total refresh. That included letting mainstays Alonso and Edwin Díaz walk in free agency and jettisoning the two other longest-tenured players, Nimmo and McNeil, via trade. After the dramatic subtraction, the Mets slowly restocked their offense with Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette and Luis Robert Jr., plus Marcus Semien, who arrived from Texas in the Nimmo swap. Franchise anchors Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto remain in place, but the lineup around them looks a whole lot different entering 2026.

There’s a bit more continuity on the mound, with New York’s top three pitchers by innings last season — David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga — still in the fold. But the departures of Díaz, Griffin Canning, who ranked fourth in games started and innings last year, and Ryne Stanek, the Mets’ most used reliever, necessitated some additions to the pitching staff. New York dealt two top prospects in Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to land one of the best starting pitchers on the trade market in Freddy Peralta and spent real dough to snag a pair of high-leverage bullpen arms in Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. All together, it was a wild winter of roster reconstruction, closing the book on several lengthy and notable Mets tenures and starting new chapters for some high-profile fresh faces.

Polar opposite of the Mets on the continuity spectrum are the New York Yankees, who spent the bulk of the offseason trying to keep their roster intact. This is a sharp contrast in strategy not only to their neighbors in Queens but also to the Yankees’ own roster construction just a year ago. Entering 2025, coming off its first World Series berth since 2009, New York had the fourth-lowest percentage of plate appearances plus innings returning in MLB. That was primarily due to the departures of lineup regulars Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo, plus some key innings-eaters in Nestor Cortes Jr. and Marcus Stroman.

The additions of Max Fried and Cody Bellinger, plus the emergence of homegrown impact players Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler, kept New York near the top of the American League in 2025, but an abrupt October exit against Toronto in the ALDS suggested another roster remix might be in order. Instead, general manager Brian Cashman spent the winter retaining a whopping six free agents, from starting outfielders Bellinger and breakout slugger Trent Grisham to bench bats Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario to depth arms Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn. The most significant external addition was a new pitcher in Ryan Weathers, while Williams and Weaver bolted crosstown to join the Mets, putting a dent in the Yankees’ returning total on the mound. But the Yanks rank second in returning bats behind only the Tigers, with their top 11 hitters by 2025 plate appearances still in the organization (Nos. 12 and 13, Oswald Peraza and DJ LeMahieu, are no longer around). 

There seems to be some consternation within the fan base that running it back to this degree might not be the best plan. But Cashman seems unbothered by that perception, and there’s reason to believe that with enough additional strides internally, the Yankees should be in the mix for another division title in 2026. It’s also worth noting that the most exciting returning Yankee is one who didn’t throw a pitch last season; that’s ace Gerrit Cole, whose comeback from Tommy John surgery isn’t captured in these calculations but is undoubtedly an enormous storyline in the Bronx.

It wasn’t as flashy or as extreme as what the Mets did, but the Pirates are another club that was awfully busy reshaping the roster over the past few months, and the data conveys as much. Pittsburgh, of course, operates in a different universe than New York when it comes to spending, but the Pirates still managed to drastically alter their team through a series of trades and (relatively) aggressive expenditures in free agency. The general theme and goal of Pittsburgh’s offseason was to balance out a roster that had a lot to like on the pitching side but was bereft of impact in the lineup.

In an effort to upgrade what was the worst offense in baseball by wRC+ in 2025, the Pirates acquired second-base slugger Brandon Lowe, signed two veteran mashers in Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna and added to the outfield mix with speedster Jake Mangum and near-ready prospect Jhostynxon Garcia. This mix of quality hitters will backfill the at-bats vacated most notably by the beloved Andrew McCutchen, as well as Tommy Pham, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ke’Bryan Hayes; that quartet combined to log more than 1,800 plate appearances last season. 

On the mound, the next wave of homegrown Pirates hurlers, headlined by top prospect Bubba Chandler, are expected to cover the frames that were handled last year by veteran Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter before he was traded. Those two lefties ranked third and fourth in 2025 innings for Pittsburgh, while Mike Burrows (96 IP) and Johan Oviedo (40 1/3 IP) were also sent elsewhere in the quest for more bats.

Can this overhauled offense and an ascendant pitching staff led by Paul Skenes end the longest postseason drought in the National League? Can’t wait to find out.

Bo Bichette and Ranger Suárez will be donning new uniforms on Opening Day. Jack Flaherty and José Ramírez will be in familiar colors.
Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports

The only team with a higher rate of return than the Yankees, the Tigers sit atop the leaderboard due more to the nature of their roster than a concerted effort to retain free agents. The tone of the offseason was set early, when Detroit’s two most prominent potential free agents chose to stay put: Jack Flaherty by exercising his player option and Gleyber Torres by accepting the qualifying offer. Reliever Kyle Finnegan, acquired at last year’s trade deadline, followed by re-upping with the Tigers on a two-year deal in early December. Beyond that, the Tigers didn’t have many key contributors hit the open market, and perhaps even more importantly, president of baseball operations Scott Harris opted to keep quiet on the trade front. That means a gigantic portion of the regulars from last season are still around, including the top 11 batters by plate appearances and the top seven pitchers by innings pitched. 

At the plate, that continuity could be construed as a negative, considering how badly the offense tailed off down the stretch and into October, but promising reinforcements are on the way in the form of top prospect Kevin McGonigle. Meanwhile on the mound, many of the same arms are in place, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be tasked with covering nearly the same number of innings after Detroit added several big-name pitchers via free agency in frontline lefty Framber Valdez, old friend Justin Verlander and new closer Kenley Jansen. That Verlander — a legend in Detroit — counts as “fresh face” underscores how few new names Tigers fans will need to learn as the season begins. Whether Detroit should have upgraded its lineup more aggressively, rather than supercharging its pitching staff behind Tarik Skubal, will be an interesting what-if to monitor as the season unfolds.

The defending AL Central champions and the biggest benefactors of Detroit’s second-half collapse last season, Cleveland also deployed the offseason strategy of changing very little. However, unlike the Tigers, who eventually splashed some cash around in free agency, Cleveland did nothing of the sort while remaining stingy on the trade market. That result is a total nothing-burger of an offseason outside of a few bullpen additions (Shawn Armstrong, Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon) and a minor-league deal for veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins. 

The biggest move of Cleveland’s winter was an extension for face-of-the-franchise José Ramírez. It’s great for the Guardians to continue that player-team partnership, but it did nothing to change the fortunes of the team in the short term. Cleveland sure looked like it could use some more substantial upgrades on offense but instead stood largely pat, trusting that its deep group of young but unproven bats can grow together to form a more competent offense in 2026. 

One important note regarding Cleveland’s totals in the chart above: Its returning innings do not include the combined 136 innings thrown in 2025 by Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who remain on the restricted list amid their alleged involvement in the gambling scandal that rocked baseball last summer. Although they technically remain in the Guardians’ organization, both were recently moved to the unpaid non-disciplinary leave list as they await federal hearings. Including them as part of Cleveland’s returning total feels misleading at this stage, considering the slim chance that either ever pitches in MLB again. Had Clase and Ortiz counted toward the Guardians’ returning innings, that would’ve vault the team to the top of the overall rankings. Instead, the Guards slot in third, behind the Tigers and Yankees.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been transacting up a storm since taking over in Boston, and this offseason was no different. It’s no secret that the Red Sox intended to build around Alex Bregman after sending Rafael Devers to San Francisco in a midseason stunner of a trade, but Bregman instead said goodbye after one year in Boston, finding a better deal with the Cubs and leaving the Red Sox to pivot. That change of plans mostly centered on improving the pitching staff behind Garrett Crochet, upgrading significantly via free agency (Ranger Suárez) and trade (Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo).

That might’ve seemed like a strange use of resources, considering Boston’s pair of MLB-ready prospects in Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, but free-agent departures (Lucas Giolito, Walker Buehler, Justin Wilson, Sean Newcomb, Dustin May) and a series of trades (Hunter Dobbins, Brennan Bernardino, Richard Fitts, Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks) thinned out the pitching depth considerably, prompting those major adds on the mound. Boston also made moves to help replace Bregman’s (and Devers’) production, with Willson Contreras the biggest bat brought in and Caleb Durbin rounding out the infield mix after a standout rookie season with the Brewers. 

Perhaps most remarkable about the Red Sox’s placement in the rate of return rankings is how much lower they could’ve been, had they traded from their outfield surplus as many expected them to. A deal of Jarren Duran or Ceddanne Rafaela would’ve plummeted Boston down toward the bottom with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. Instead, Breslow opted to hold on to all of his outfielders and trust that they’ll get the requisite at-bats to form a formidable lineup.

Amazon Big Spring Sale 2026 Live Blog: The Early Deals Are Rolling In

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The deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale have been surprisingly good so far, even though the sale is not supposed to start until this Wednesday, March 25. As is the case with other big Amazon sales, I’m going to make your life a little easier and highlight all the deals as our team covers them. All of our recommended deals have been vetted using price-tracking tools, so you can trust that the sales we’re talking about are actually good deals, and not just hype designed to fool you.

You can read more details about the spring sale here, like what to expect, how long it’ll last, and some tips to make your experience better. You can also just browse what’s on sale here. We’ll continue highlighting new deals as we find them, but you can scroll through to see earlier deals that may still be active.

Microsoft Is Removing ‘Unnecessary’ Copilot Features in Windows

After years of integrating (read: shoving) Copilot into as many Windows apps as possible, Microsoft seems to have made a shocking discovery: users don’t want Copilot crammed into as many Windows apps as possible. On Friday, Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft’s President of Windows & Devices, published a post on the official Windows Blog, walking readers through changes the company was making to Windows in response to user feedback. While Davuluri stopped short of saying the words “all this AI was a mistake,” he did say, “What came through [from user feedback] was the voice of people who care deeply about Windows and want it to be better.” So, now, we have a bunch of changes that, hopefully, make Windows better.

Copilot is taking a step back in future versions of Windows 11

Chief among those changes is an AI regression. In a bullet point titled “Integrating AI where it’s most meaningful, with craft and focus,” Davuluri says that Microsoft is going to be “more intentional” about where and how it puts Copilot throughout the operating system. The goal going forward will be on experiences that are “genuinely useful and well-crafted.” Notably, Microsoft is now “reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points.” While more changes could come in the future, the omissions start with Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad. Davuluri doesn’t say how much Microsoft is pulling back Copilot from these apps, but with any luck, the company will at least make AI features a bit less prominent.

This first round of changes might not be perfect, but it does seem to address the core complaints users have had about Copilot in Windows 11. Take a look at Windows and technology forums like Reddit, and you’ll see plenty of criticisms here. This thread, for example, is full of them: One user posts “I hate the process by which they are cramming it into every single tool, changing it on an almost daily basis and leaving most of the features on by default,” while another says “This reminds me of Windows 8, but on steroids.” One even tried to use it in a technical way, to no avail: “I [set up] a Copilot agent as a supplemental training resource and it has a mind of its own. I give it instructions to not do something and it just does the opposite.”

While I’m sure there are Copilot features that some users find useful, the fact is that most of these functions just aren’t necessary to do the things people want to do with their machines. If they were, Microsoft probably wouldn’t need to cram Copilot into as many different corners of the OS as possible, to prove to the world (or investors) that it was taking AI seriously. The company made a dedicated Copilot key for PCs, and even went to extreme lengths to trick people into using Copilot. If you have to trick customers into using your product, that product probably isn’t worth using.

Other changes coming to Windows 11

Too much Copilot isn’t the only complaint that users have about Windows 11. In fact, people have been complaining about Windows 11 since its launch, well before the generative AI boon that kicked off in late 2022. As such, Davuluri’s post is full of plans for improving Windows 11 for the better, supposedly in direct response to user feedback.

That includes changes to taskbar customization, including the ability to move the taskbar to the top or to the sides of your screen. File Explorer will also launch faster, with reduced flicker and smoother navigation. Widgets will also be “quieter” by default, with new controls for when they appear. Updates are another major Windows 11 pain point which are getting addressed this year. Soon, you’ll be able to skip updates when setting up a new device so you can start using it faster. You’ll also be able to restart or shut down your PC without having to update, and you can pause updates for longer, if you don’t feel like installing the latest software version.

Windows Insiders will also note some changes: Davuluri says that Microsoft will make it easier to navigate the program, with clearer descriptions for each channel (so you know what you’re signing up to test), easier access to new features (the thing most Insiders are there to test), higher quality updates, and more transparency into how user feedback impacts future Windows builds. To that point, the general Feedback Hub is getting redesigned, so Insiders can share their feedback (and see other users’ feedback) easier.

You can read Davuluri’s full post to see all the details on Microsoft’s plans for Windows 11, but, in my view, this is all a good sign. Microsoft seems to understand that its current OS is too busy and in your face, whether that involves its AI or its other features. By toning down the design across the board, Windows could be an OS that gives users more control over how it works and responds—which is really what it should have been all along.

10 Hacks Every Ring User Should Know

When setting up any new internet-connected device, don’t stick with the default settings. Doing so introduces security risks, and it’s also a less-than-optimal way to use the features available to you. If you have a Ring camera or doorbell, there are a whole host of changes you can make to minimize annoyance and maximize privacy.

Snooze Motion Alerts when you’re outside

Motion alerts are among the most useful features of any security camera, but you don’t need a notification to your phone when you are the one moving around your property. You can snooze alerts in certain situations, such as when you’re outside doing yard work or hosting a party. Global Snooze pauses alerts for all cameras and doorbells for a set duration, while Alerts Snooze allows you to pause notifications from a specific device. When Snooze is enabled, you’ll still get Doorbell Rings and Priority Alerts.

In the Ring app, tap the motion icon, choose the snooze duration, and tap Start Snooze. For a single device, tap the More icon on the camera you want to snooze and tap the bell icon to turn Alerts Snooze on or off.

If you have monitoring via Virtual Security Guard, you can turn on Motion Snooze for enrolled devices to temporarily pause that service.

Optimize Motion Zones to exclude certain areas

Another way to curate motion alerts is to customize your Ring camera’s Motion Zones—for example, to exclude busy streets with lots of cars driving by as well as private, low-traffic areas you don’t need to monitor. You can add up to three motion zones per device under your camera’s Settings > Motion Settings > Camera Motion Zones. Tap Add Zone, drag the edges of the zone boundaries within your camera’s view, and hit Save.

Set up Smart Alerts to reduce unnecessary notifications

In addition to narrowing motion zones, you can choose whether you receive motion alerts and/or recordings specifically for people, vehicles, and packages while minimizing notifications from other sources of movement. (Not all Ring devices are compatible with all three Smart Alert categories, and you’ll need a Ring subscription to use these features.) To enable Smart Alerts, go to your device’s Settings > Motion Settings > Smart Alerts, then tap Enable Feature > Continue and choose your preferred alerts.

Customize your Neighborhood Area for relevant alerts

Neighbors is an online community through which Ring users can share footage and receive updates for their area. It is the broad umbrella for controversial features like Community Requests and Search Party (which I’ll get into below), but it could be useful for keeping abreast of issues in your neighborhood—like fire or other safety alerts—even if you don’t make your camera’s content public. You can customize your area so you’re only getting relevant alerts, especially if your neighborhood is more active on the app. Go to Menu > Neighbors > Settings > Customize Neighborhood to adjust the boundaries of your area.

Turn off Community Requests from law enforcement

Community Requests is a Neighbors feature through which law enforcement can ask users to share video from their Ring devices. While Ring says that footage isn’t shared automatically, and law enforcement doesn’t have access to live feeds, many users still have privacy concerns related to this type of collaboration. (Note that Ring also had a short-lived partnership with Flock Safety, which would have made it easier for law enforcement agencies to request Ring camera footage using Flock’s software.)

You can simply ignore Community Requests in your Neighbors feed, or you can turn these requests off entirely under Neighborhood Settings > Feed Settings. Deselect Community Requests and hit Apply.

Opt out of Search Party’s surveillance

Ring launched its Search Party feature in a Super Bowl ad earlier this year, ostensibly to help users find lost dogs in their neighborhood. Search Party uses AI to identify pets in your Ring’s field of vision and pools the footage with other cameras. Obviously, this functionality comes with significant privacy concerns, not least of which is whether and how your footage could be shared with law enforcement to surveil people rather than pets. You can disable Search Party entirely under Control Center > Search Party. Choose the blue Pet icon next to each camera.

Disconnect from Amazon Sidewalk’s wireless network

Amazon Sidewalk uses your Ring device—and others in your neighborhood—to create a mesh network so said devices stay connected to the internet even if your wifi is weak or goes down. Amazon says that this feature provides security (because you’ll still get important alerts) and extends the range for other devices like smart lights, smart locks, and pet locators. But you may not want to use your bandwidth for this purpose nor introduce potential privacy concerns to your home network. You can disable Amazon Sidewalk in the Control Center on your Ring app.

Disable third-party provider sharing

Like many apps and services, Ring shares certain information with third parties for purposes like personalized ads. While the company says it does not sell users’ personal data, in 2020, researchers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation found that the Ring app was packed with third-party trackers that were sending personally identifiable information to analytics and marketing firms.

In response, Ring added an opt-out feature, so you can adjust your settings to keep this information private from third-party providers. In the Ring app, go to Menu > Control Center > Cookies and Third Party Service Providers and turn off Third-Party Web and App Analytics Cookies and Personalized Advertising.

Enable end-to-end encryption to protect your Ring footage

If you want maximum privacy for your Ring footage, consider enabling end-to-end encryption (E2EE), which prevents anyone except you from accessing your recordings. This adds an extra layer of protection against hackers as well as Ring itself (including compliance with law enforcement requests), as videos are hidden behind a passphrase and can be viewed only on your enrolled mobile device. You’ll also need a (paid) Ring Protect subscription. The major downside is that you lose access to a pretty sizeable list of features, including 24/7 video recording and Person Detection. To set up E2EE, go to your Control Center > Video Encryption > End-to-End Encryption.

Set up local storage for more space and better privacy

With a Ring Protect subscription, Ring will store your videos in the cloud for 180 days, which you can shorten to as little as one day if you are concerned about someone gaining access to your footage (and E2EE isn’t enabled). Unfortunately, without a Ring Protect subscription, there’s no easy option to store videos from your camera, and you will probably want to save recordings for at least some period of time. You can set up local storage to a MicroSD card through Ring Edge, though you’ll need to invest in a Ring Alarm Pro Base Station. This gives you more control, more space, and more privacy. Of course, another alternative is to look for a camera that offers local storage to begin with.

2026 MLB season over/under win total predictions for all thirty teams

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The start of the 2026 Major League Baseball season is just two days away, so now is the perfect time to take a look at the projected win totals for all thirty teams this season. There are a few interesting projections this year after a busy offseason that could influence changes in the standings from last season.

On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman make their predictions and explain why they would take the over or under on projected wins for each team. While the Los Angeles Dodgers are coming off an incredible season, being the only team projected to eclipse the 100-win mark might be a tall task. Can the Atlanta Braves surpass their projection after an incredibly disappointing season?

Later, Jake and Jordan dive into the American League, where they ask whether the New York Yankees, largely running back their roster from 2025, will get over the 94-win mark. They then take a strong stance on whether the Houston Astros missing the postseason for the first time in a while last year properly reflects their projected win total for this season.

1:07 – The Opener: Explaining over/unders

4:43 – NL East

20:09 – NL Central

35:32 – NL West

46:31 – AL East

58:48 – AL Central

1:11:12 – AL West

Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out all episodes of Baseball Bar-B-Cast and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

Cubs announce OF Seiya Suzuki will begin season on injured list with strained right knee

The Chicago Cubs confirmed what many suspected would happen after Seiya Suzuki injured his right knee in last week’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. Suzuki will begin the 2026 MLB season on the injured list with a strained PCL, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced on Monday.

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Suzuki, 31, sustained the injury while attempting to steal second base during the first inning of Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela on March 14. He left the game and was officially diagnosed upon returning to the Cubs’ spring training camp three days later.

While the strain is reportedly minor and the Cubs don’t expect Suzuki to miss much time, he wasn’t going to be ready for Opening Day on Thursday versus the Washington Nationals.

“Opening Day, it’s not going to happen,” Counsell said on Saturday, via MLB.com. “Once you get past Opening Day, we’ve got to make a decision, does it just make sense to give him some time? We’ve got time to make that decision.”

Suzuki has been going through his normal preparations as a batter, but hasn’t faced live pitching since returning to the Cubs last week. He also has not been allowed to run, slide or go through stop-and-start running motions.

Last season, Suzuki put up his best numbers in four seasons with the Cubs. He hit 32 home runs with 31 doubles and 102 RBI, while batting .245/.326/.478 in 651 plate appearances.

This season will be the final year of the five-year, $85 million contract Suzuki signed in 2022. In his four seasons with the Cubs, he’s batted .269/.346/.472 with 111 doubles, 87 homers, 296 RBI and 36 stolen bases, playing primarily as a designated hitter and right fielder.

The Cubs invited outfielder Michael Conforto (.199/.305/.333 last season) to spring training on a minor-league deal, and Suzuki’s injury has assured him a spot on the Opening Day roster. Matt Shaw (.226/.25/.394) is also expected to see time in right field, moving to a super-utility role after the Cubs signed free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman.

Mexico’s Karim Lopez reportedly declares for the 2026 NBA Draft

Karim Lopez is a highly touted prospect and could become the first player of Mexican descent selected in the first round. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)
Fiona Goodall via Getty Images

Mexico’s Karim Lopez has reportedly declared for the 2026 NBA Draft, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo and Shams Charania. Lopez is a highly touted prospect and could become the first player of Mexican descent selected in the first round. He is the son of former Mexican national team player Jesús Hiram Lopez.

Lopez has spent the past two seasons playing for the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s NBL as part of the league’s Next Stars program. Before joining the Breakers, he played for Spanish club Joventut Badalona.

Despite being just 19 years old, Lopez has emerged as a standout on a veteran Breakers roster. This season, he averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 49% from the field in 25.6 minutes per game. His performances included a 32-point outing in a January 30 win over Melbourne.

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Lopez also set a single-season Next Stars record with 358 points across 30 starts and matched former 2025 second-round pick Alex Toohey with a combined 66 steals and blocks. NBA teams could also be drawn to Lopez’s size at 6-9 with a 7-1 wingspan.

Although the Breakers finished 14-20 this season, they captured the NBL’s inaugural Ignite Cup, a regular-season tournament.

Lopez now joins what is expected to be a loaded draft class. The NBA Draft Combine will take place May 10-17 in Chicago, with the NBA Draft scheduled for late June.

NBA MVP rankings: Luka Dončić is rising, but can anyone take the trophy from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

We have examined the NBA’s MVP race in greatdetail over the last few weeks, but now it is high time for another look at this year’s candidates.

The list is not so dissimilar to our top candidates since the regular season’s one-third mark, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Jalen Brunson, Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama — in that order — were our leading candidates. It is just a bit jumbled now, and with Cade Cunningham in Brunson’s stead as the Eastern Conference’s sole representative on this ballot. His Detroit Pistons, who hold a four-game lead for the No. 1 seed, earned him that right.

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It is weird now how the MVP ballot reflects a position-less All-NBA First Team. Will any of the 100 voters’ top-five MVP candidates look different from their All-NBA First Team? I suppose it is possible. It would not be here, if I had a vote, because of course the five most valuable players should make up your position-less All-NBA First Team.

That is, of course, if they qualify for the NBA’s 65-game rule, which requires players to participate in that many games in order to be considered for end-of-season awards.

(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

Kawhi Leonard can miss only one more game before he is disqualified. He may not appear on anyone’s MVP ballot, since his Los Angeles Clippers are below .500, but his production should absolutely be in play for a spot on the All-NBA Second Team.

Cunningham’s MVP case is the one that is in most danger. He has missed nine games, and he is expected to miss at least the next six with a collapsed lung. To rush him back from that injury, just to qualify for end-of-year awards, might be a mistake.

Cunningham’s absence could leave the door open for Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown to make his way onto a ballot. Before we reveal too much, our MVP rankings …

Honorable mentions: Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics; Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks; Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves; Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers.

Dončić has played his way into this conversation over the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak. Over that span, he has averaged a 40-8-7 on a 63.6 true shooting percentage.

On the season, Dončić is now averaging a 33-8-8 on better than 60% true shooting. Nobody attempts more shots (22.7), 3-pointers (10.8) or free throws (10.3) a night. His usage rate (37.9%), obviously, leads the league. The Lakers score 119.1 points per 100 possessions, similar to the league’s second-best offense, when he is on the court.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles also allows 115.5 points per 100 possessions — a number that approaches the NBA’s bottom-10 defensive ratings — when he takes the floor. That figure is far better (110.1 points allowed per 100 possessions) over the past nine games, where Dončić has also improved on that end. If he can sustain that effort over the course of a full season, the 27-year-old may yet one day get his MVP.

Recency bias may suggest that Dončić belongs higher on this list, but remember: The Pistons perform like one of the league’s few title favorites, along with Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder and Wembanyama’s Spurs, when Cunningham is in the lineup.

Detroit is 44-17 when the former No. 1 overall pick takes the court, a 59-win pace. Cunningham is not the team’s best defender, though he is one piece of an outfit that rates as the league’s second-best defense. He is also the sole creator for an offense that scores 119.7 points per 100 possessions (a top-two figure) when he’s on the floor.

Cunningham’s 24.5 points per game rank 13th in the NBA on decent efficiency (56.7 true shooting percentage). He could improve in that regard. But his 9.9 assists a night have generated more points (1,548) than anyone else, including Jokić, even as Detroit starts two defense-first non-shooters (Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson).

Jokić is enjoying a typical Jokić season, which is to say: The numbers are off the charts. He is averaging a triple-double, leading the league in both rebounds (12.6) and assists (10.6) per game. Needless to say, nobody has ever done that, especially not while averaging 28 points per game on league-leading efficiency (67.6 TS%).

There is little doubt he is the game’s most impactful offensive player. The Nuggets own the NBA’s best offensive rating (120.2), and they are even better, scoring 125.1 points per 100 possessions, when Jokić is on the floor. That is just insane efficiency.

It is on the defensive end of the floor where Jokić’s MVP argument suffers. He is the anchor of the league’s 21st-rated defense, though it is a little bit better, allowing 114.7 points per 100 possessions (a middling figure), when he is actually on the court.

It does not help that his Nuggets have essentially played .500 ball since Christmas. Even as an injury-plagued roster has regained some of its health, Denver remains an inconsistent team, despite its superior offense, and that comes with porous defense.

The Spurs have climbed within three games of the Thunder for the West’s No. 1 seed, and that is Wembanyama’s key to moving into the top spot on these rankings. If San Antonio can catch Oklahoma City, there is a legitimate case to be made for Wemby.

After all, he is the NBA’s most dominant defensive force. He is as impactful on that end as anyone is on offense. The Spurs allow 103.7 points per 100 possessions, more than two points better than OKC’s league-leading defense, when Wembanyama is on the court. San Antonio is a middling defensive outfit when Wemby is on the bench.

Offensively, the Spurs score 119.9 points per 100 possessions, something like the league’s second-best unit, whenever Wembanyama is on the floor. He is the NBA’s 13th-most impactful player offensively, according to Dunks and Threes’ Estimated Plus-Minus, trailing only Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander, Dončić and 10 other dynamos.

There is a real case to be made that a 22-year-old 7-foot-5 (7-foot-7?) phenom is already the NBA’s best player, depending on how much you weigh defense against offense, though the standings do not reflect it. Yet. The Spurs are 43-13 when Wemby is in the lineup, a 63-win pace. You have to be better than that to catch the Thunder.

Someone has to take the MVP trophy from Gilgeous-Alexander, who edged Jokić for the regular-season award last season, and then added a Finals MVP honor to his collection en route to his first-ever championship.

Nobody has taken it from him. Not yet.

The Thunder once again own the league’s best record — by three full games over Wembanyama’s Spurs. They operate better than the NBA’s best offense, scoring 120.4 points per 100 possessions, and better than its best defense, allowing 106 points per 100 possessions, when Gilgeous-Alexander is on the court for them.

When SGA is off the floor, Oklahoma City still performs like a 54-win team, owning the NBA’s top defense, allowing 105.2 points per 100 possessions, but its offense drops to one of the league’s worst outfits, scoring 110 points per 100 possessions.

That could be a strike against Gilgeous-Alexander in the right argument. But we should measure him against what the Thunder look like with him on the court, not how good they are when he is not playing, and they look like a juggernaut with him.

Besides, SGA is averaging 31.6 points per game on 66.5% true shooting. Only one other guard has ever scored 30-plus points a night on better shooting efficiency: Stephen Curry in his unanimous MVP campaign for the 73-win Warriors in 2016.

In other words, Gilgeous-Alexander is enjoying one of the best offensive seasons ever for a guard, while serving as a cog on the league’s best defense, for the NBA’s best team. Until someone can match those credentials, the award is SGA’s to lose.