Sports Time Radio

The NBA draft is Thursday night and there’s been a lot of trade talk and even a couple of deals as we get close to draft night.

The dealing started officially on Monday when the trade between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers was finalized. Boston sent the #1 overall pick in the draft to Philadelphia for the #3 pick and a conditional 1st round pick in 2018 or 2019.

Then yesterday we had a couple of trades. The first one reported was the Los Angeles Lakers sending D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the #27 pick in Thursday’s draft. Then a little later in the day the Atlanta Hawks sent Dwight Howard and the 31st pick in the draft to the Charlotte Hornets for Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli and the 41st pick in the draft.

It will be interesting to see if we get anymore trades before the draft as there are a ton of rumors out there. There’s been a lot of talk about the Indiana Pacers trying to find a trading partner for Paul George. It would appear as though the best spot to deal George would be the Lakers since he’s said that he would like to sign there after his contract is up. George is signed through next season. Jimmy Butler’s name seems to have been in trade rumors since the trade deadline last season; so it’s no surprise at all that he’s still being talked about. Reports where that the Cleveland Cavaliers where very interested in acquiring Butler, but this morning he told the Cavaliers that he’d rather stay with the Chicago Bulls than play for Cleveland. I was a little bit surprised to find out that the Los Angeles Clippers have actually looked at the possibility of dealing All-Star center DeAndre Jordan. Now the Clippers are in an interesting spot since both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are free agents. Now imagine if Paul and Griffin where to sign elsewhere it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for the Clippers to hang onto Jordan; so in a way I guess it makes sense for them to look at the trade value of Jordan. Don’t forget that the New York Knicks still have Carmelo Anthony on the roster, but the name of Kristaps Porzingis has come out in trade rumors as well. There was rumors of a swap between the Knicks and the Phoenix Suns where the Suns would get Porzingis for Devin Booker. There is also talk that the Celtics would like to make a deal for Porzingis, but it appears as though the Knicks would rather find another trade partner. Will any of these players actually get traded? Or was it just pre-draft talk by teams to draw some interest. I guess will find out soon.

Baseball is an ever changing game and you can never really tell what you’re going to get out of team almost from game to game. Now there where a lot of people on the New York Yankees bandwagon and where talking about them being front runners to win the World Series. Then they went on a 7-game west coast road trip. They dropped 2 of 3 games to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and where then swept on a 4 game series by the Oakland A’s. It was a 1-6 road trip for the Yankees and they lost the last 6 in a row. They returned home to face the Angels last night and their luck hadn’t changed yet as they where beaten 8-3 by Los Angeles. Of course there’s no reason to stop supporting the Yankees as they are still 8 games over .500 at 38-30 and even after dropping 7 games in a row they are jus 1/2 a game out of 1st place in the A.L. East. They’ll have a chance to end the losing streak tonight against the Angels. Jordan Montgomery makes the start for the Yankees tonight. Montgomery is 4-4 in 12 starts with an E.R.A. of 3.78. The Angels will send Ricky Nolasco to try to extend the Yankees losing streak. Nolasco is 2-8 in 14 starts with an E.R.A. of 5.01. Will see if the media can hold their horses a little bit the next time the Yankees go on a run, but I think we all know they won’t.

In sad news for the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL in general this morning as it was announced that winger Marion Hossa is expected to miss the entire 2017-18 season as he receives treatment for a skin disorder. Hossa released a statement earlier saying “Over the course of the last few years, under the supervision of the Blackhawks medical staff, I have been privately undergoing treatment for a progressive skin disorder and the side effects of the medications involved to treat the disorder,” Hossa said Wednesday morning. “Due to the severe side effects associated with those medications, playing hockey is not possible for me during the upcoming 2017-18 season. While I am disappointed that I will not be able to play, I have to consider the severity of my condition and how the treatments have impacted my life both on and off the ice.” There was a report Tuesday that Hossa’s career could be over because of a severe allergic reaction caused by his hockey equipment.
Hossa scored 26 goals last season, his 19th in the league. He is due to be paid $1 million for each of the four years remaining on the 12-year, $63.3 million deal he signed in 2009. His deal carries a cap hit of $5.275 million, however. If Hossa were to retire, the Blackhawks would be hit with a cap recapture penalty. If Hossa goes on long-term injured reserve; even for the remainder of his contract the Blackhawks, who consistently have cap issues, would get some salary cap relief.

Hossa will almost certainly be elected to the Hall of Fame. He has 525 goals, is a five-time All-Star and helped lead the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles. He’s known as one of the best two way forwards of his generation.

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