SI:AM | A Tale of Two Drafts

DAN GARTLAND 

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I passed right over the Mets game last night while I was flying home and all I could think about was that scene in Men in Black.  

In today’s SI:AM:

📝 NBA draft grades

🏀 Winners and losers

🏈 NFL says no to Sorsby 

NBA first round in the books

 Brad Penner/Imagn Images

The first round of the NBA draft went mostly according to plan, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t interesting. 

This draft class was the most highly celebrated in years, with three potential stars at the top and a solid crop of prospects not far behind them. The order of the first three picks was as expected: The Wizards took BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the first pick, Kansas’s Darryn Peterson went second to the Jazz and the Grizzlies chose Duke’s Cameron Boozer at No. 3. 

While all three players were universally believed to be in a tier of their own, there is plenty of debate over who is the best prospect. And they’re three very different sorts of players, which makes the argument a fun one. Dybantsa is an athletic forward capable of creating his own shot, Peterson is an elite scoring guard and Boozer is a burly forward favored by analytical models as the best of the bunch. All three players landed in situations where they should be able to maximize their talents. 

⚽ Check out SI’s World Cup Daily

The first surprise of the night came when the Mavericks selected Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. with the ninth pick. Johnson was a key piece of the Wolverines’ national championship team, but he was seen more as a mid-to-late first-round pick. He ended up going to Dallas, which just two days earlier had hired Michigan’s Dusty May as its new coach. The Mavs could have gotten a player whose stock was higher—like Arizona guard Brayden Burries, or Tennessee forward Nate Ament—but they went with someone their new coach is very familiar with. Two of Johnson’s former teammates went off the board shortly after him. The Warriors took Yaxel Lendeborg at No. 11, and the Thunder took Aday Mara at No. 12. Yes, the Thunder now have another guy who’s listed at 7’3″. 

The other big draft news

The players selected last night will be playing professionally in the fall. Brendan Sorsby will not. 

The NFL informed Sorsby yesterday that it will not hold a supplemental draft this year, meaning Sorsby will have to wait until the 2027 draft to attempt to resume his football career. 

Sorsby applied for the supplemental draft last week after the Big 12 filed a petition in federal court that sought to reverse an earlier ruling by a Texas judge allowing Sorsby to play for Texas Tech this season. Sorsby had been ruled permanently ineligible in May after the revelation that he had placed thousands of bets on pro and college sports, including 40 on his own team. (He did not bet on games in which he played.)

The NFL’s letter to Sorsby was blunt, saying it had not planned to hold a supplemental draft this year and would not do so solely for Sorsby’s benefit. The league said Sorsby’s application was filed “without any supporting information or documentation, and only after abandoning your recent litigation efforts to avoid NCAA sanctions.”

Sorsby’s situation is surely one the NFL would like to investigate and deliberate thoroughly. Welcoming a player with a lengthy history of gambling improprieties is a major risk for the league and is not a decision that should be rushed to accommodate the timeline of the supplemental draft. Sorsby went to rehab for a gambling addiction when news of his wagers first broke, and the NFL’s decision gives him time to continue his treatment. The NFL may very well decide next spring that Sorsby has put his gambling issues behind him and is deserving of a second chance. But Sorsby broke the No. 1 rule in sports: He bet on his own team. That has to have consequences, and, at least for now, the consequence is he’s not able to play in the NFL.  

 

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Erick W. Rasco

👀 The top five …

… things I saw yesterday: 

5. Tigers rookie Ben Malgeri’s hit on the very first pitch he saw in the big leagues. 

4. The Diamondbacks’ very unconventional double play. 

3. Marco Pašalić’s back-heel pass to get the play started on Croatia’s go-ahead goal against Panama. 

2. Ghana goalie Benjamin Asare’s celebrationafter keeping a clean sheet against England in a 0–0 draw. Asare, who turns 34 next month, has spent his entire club career in Ghana and only made his first appearance for the national team in March 2025. 

1. Nuno Mendes’s free-kick goal for Portugal. (It was made possible by Cristiano Ronaldo acting as a decoy.) 

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Published by RJ Hamster

I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis. I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God. I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree. Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons. I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA. While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon.. In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987). From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting. Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982. I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects. In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston. In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018. Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia. In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey. As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova. Love and God Bless, Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi

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