Volume 18

THE COLE TIMES

Vol.18 June 28, 2025

AL Cy Young Race

There is an obvious gap between the strength of pitchers in the AL and NL with the

AL pitchers being better. So, who is the AL leader Max Fried, Garett Crochet, Tarik

Skulbal, Hunter Brown, Jacob de Grom, Josh Hader, or Carlos Rodon? In my

opinion the current leader is Max Fried with 10 Wins, an 1.92 ERA, and 108.0 IP.

NBA Draft

The NBA Draft was wild! As expected, Duke forward Cooper Flagg went 1 Overall to

the Dallas Mavericks. Flagg will not be the face of the franchise right away,

because of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. Dallas had very low odds to land the 1st

pick, but they did. Two Rutgers players got drafted, Dylan Harper No.2 to the San

Antonio Spurs and Ace Bailey No.5 to the Utah Jazz. Walter Clayton Jr. was the only

Florida Gator drafted in the first round. Clayton Jr. helped Florida win the national

championship last season. Other then Flagg, 4 more Duke players got drafted Kon

Knueppel at No.4 to the Charolette Hornets, Khaman Maluach at No.10 to the

Houston Rockets, Sion James at No.33 to the Hornets, and Tyrese Proctor at No.49

to the Cleveland Caviliers. Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe went No.3 to the

Philadelphia 76ers.

Kevin Durant

A blockbuster deal happened earlier this week with Kevin Durant being traded from

the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets. Durant, a 15 time all star, has the 8th

most points in NBA history and landed in 1 of his 3 preferred landing spots

(Houston,Miami,and San Antonio). The Suns got a haul although it seem Houston

won the trade.

Trade Summary:

Phoenix Gets: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, 2025 No. 10 Draft Pick, 5 second round draft picks

over multiple years

Houston Gets: Kevin Durant

NBA Championship

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the 2025 NBA Champions! Oklahoma City beat the

Indiana Pacers to win their 1st championship in the Sooner State. In game 7, Tyrese

Haliburton got injured in the 1st quarter but, despite that setback the Pacers still

led at halftime by 1 point. Oklahoma City and Indiana continued battiling being

tied 56-56 with 8:32 remaining in the 3rd quarter. I wish I could say it stayed

competitive, but no. Oklahoma City went on a 9-0 run to make it 65-56. Indiana

came back making it 70-66 with OKC still leading. OKC continued to increase the

lead, with the largest lead at 22. Indiana tried to claw back with a little run, but it

was not enough Oklahoma City won 103-91 in the end.