Sports
Trade winners and losers: Cavs deliver, Bulls not so much
Jan 30, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images As the clock counted down on the NBA trade deadline Thursday, it was the Los Angeles Clippers who drained a shot at the buzzer, while the Chicago Bulls seemed unable to execute the play drawn up in the huddle.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant were supposed to be the biggest names on the move by Thursday afternoon and yet the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies held their ground. And yet the Grizzlies managed to show they had other options.
The Dallas Mavericks were still trying to dig themselves out of the hole they made for themselves in advance of last year’s deadline, while the Golden State Warriors shut down the trade season after inspiring some head scratching.
With the second half of the NBA season already upon us, even if the All-Star break has yet to arrive, there were multiple winners and losers as the trade deadline passed.
WINNERS
Cleveland Cavaliers
At least for the time being, the Cavaliers figured out how to make themselves a better team, all while sitting in a top-four spot in the Eastern Conference. Good-bye Lonzo Ball, De’Andre Hunter and the injured Darius Garland. Hello Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder and James Harden.
Cleveland loses 10 years in the Harden-Garland swap but they suddenly have scoring punch for when star guard Donovan Mitchell goes to the bench. It was a glaring weakness for a top team, and while Harden, 36, is an older player, he has been durable.
The Cavaliers are on a 9-2 run and they have yet to integrate their new pieces, although Ellis and Schroder did make their team debut Wednesday … in an blowout road victory over their trade partner, the Los Angeles Clippers.
Los Angeles Clippers
Considering the Clipper were an old team with no first-round draft pick this year and a 6-21 record to start the season, the path to a brighter future is now paved.
Harden was swapped for a 26-year-old in Darius Garland, who has a two All-Star Game appearances and a tight relationship with Los Angeles head coach Tyronn Lue. What Garland will need moving forward is better health.
The Clippers also addressed their empty vault of draft picks by landing two first-rounders when they moved center Ivica Zubac, whose old-school game lacks the versatility of today’s big men. And yet the Clippers also added Bennedict Mathurin from the Pacers in the deal.
The Clippers now have the fifth overall pick from the 2019 draft (Garland), the No. 6 overall pick from 2022 (Mathurin) and two first-round picks for the future.
Memphis Grizzlies
Trading Morant was supposed to bring Memphis the kind of draft capital, similar to what the Oklahoma City Thunder had acquired to build their current empire and make it formidable for years to come.
With teams seemingly unsure of where Morant sees himself down the road, the Grizzlies traded Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz for a package that includes three first-round draft picks. Add that the to the four first-round picks they landed this offseason by trading Desmond Bane to Orlando, and Memphis can see a bright future, all in a matter of nine months.
LOSERS
Chicago Bulls
A haul of second-round draft picks would be impressive in baseball and formidable in football. In basketball, the stars that emerge from the second round do exist, but not as much as the Bulls are going to need them to develop.
The Bulls now have 14 second-round draft picks through 2032 and only five of them are their own. And Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Nikola Vucevic are gone now from a roster that was hovering around the bottom of play-in eligibility.
Guard Jaden Ivey is a nice pickup, assuming injury issues are behind him, but was there not a single first-round pick to be had this week?
Golden State Warriors
The reported pursuit of Antetokounmpo inspired dreams of the Greek Freak playing alongside Steph Curry as the former champions combine their star power to chase at least one more title. Oh well.
Not only that, sending out Jonathan Kuminga seemed like it would bring a decent return. But even while combining Kuminga with Buddy Hield, the Warriors were only able to land Kristaps Porzingis. At least Porzingis is on an expiring contract.
Golden State is currently eighth in the West, but that is merely a spot in the play-in tournament. Can Curry will another deep playoff run with the squad he has around him?
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers won last year’s trade season by ripping away Luka Doncic from the Mavericks, but with merely a handful of expiring contracts to deal, they were going to have to be clever to land the kind of upgrade they needed this time around.
Enter Luke Kennard, who was acquired Thursday. While Kennard coached by JJ Redick offers intrigue, he is not the most aggressive of talented sharpshooters and it is hard to see him being more assertive on a team when Doncic and LeBron James are yearning for the ball.
If only Dalton Knecht turned into the confident shooter Los Angeles envisioned. Maybe a 3-and-D forward would be on his way instead.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Luis Robert Jr. belts three-run HR as Mets down Pirates in 11
Mar 28, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) hits a three run walk off home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eleventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Luis Robert Jr. hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 11th inning Saturday for the New York Mets, who overcame a pair of deficits in extras to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2.
Bryan Reynolds had an RBI infield single in the top of the 11th for the Pirates before the Mets rallied against Hunter Barco (0-1). Jorge Polanco worked a five-pitch walk, after which Robert hit a 1-0 pitch beyond the left-centerfield wall for his first homer with New York and his second career walk-off shot.
Robert, who was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in January, hit his other walk-off homer on Aug. 30, 2020.
The Mets are 2-0 for the first time since 2022.
Richard Lovelady (1-0) allowed an unearned run in the top of the 11th before earning his first big league win since 2024.
Luis Torrens had a game-tying RBI single in the 10th for the Mets, who loaded the bases with none out but didn’t score the winning run.
Nick Gonzales had an RBI single in the top of the 10th for the Pirates, who are 0-2 for the first time since 2022. Gonzales, Reynolds and Jake Mangum had two hits apiece.
Mangum’s ninth-inning double was the only extra-base hit of the game prior to Robert’s homer.
The Mets and Pirates were a combined 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position through the first nine innings.
Mets left-hander David Peterson allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three over 5 1/3 innings. Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller gave up three hits and walked none with three strikeouts over six innings.
The Mets got only two runners as far as second base against Keller. The Pirates built their biggest threat against Peterson in the fifth, when Jared Triolo and Ryan O’Hearn delivered two-out singles before Bryan Reynolds walked. But Marcell Ozuna, swinging on a 2-0 pitch, popped out.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Miko Rantanen, Stars double-up Penguins
Mar 28, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) and Pittsburgh Penguins center Ben Kindel (81) fight for the puck during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Miko Rantanen scored in his first game in nearly two months, and the Dallas Stars tallied three unanswered second-period goals to end a four-game skid and defeat the host Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Saturday.
Rantanen and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for Dallas (44-18-11, 99 points), which had gone 0-3-1 in its last four. The Stars trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in this contest before exploding for three goals, two on the power play, in the second.
Rookie Justin Hryckowian, Lian Bichsel and Mavrik Bourque also scored for the Stars, who swept the two-game season series with Pittsburgh after winning in Dallas in December.
Erik Karlsson had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh (36-21-16, 88 points), which was playing without both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby due to lower-body injuries.
Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari also scored for Pittsburgh, which lost its third game at PPG Paints Arena in the past week. The Penguins were outscored 17-6 in those three home contests.
Mantha redirected a Karlsson slapshot to put Pittsburgh in front on a power-play goal just over two minutes into the game.
Hryckowian evened the score for Dallas early in the second period, capitalizing on a broken play that left him wide open in front of the net with the puck.
Karlsson answered for the Penguins 48 seconds later with a wrister for his 13th goal of the season. In the process, he broke two franchise records for defensemen.
The goal was his ninth in March, the most in a single month by a Penguins blueliner. This was also his ninth multi-point game in March, which broke Randy Carlyle’s mark, set in December 1980, for most multi-point games in a single month by a defenseman.
The Stars responded over the next few minutes. Robertson scored on the power play 7:12 into the period to even the game. It was Robertson’s 40th goal, tying him with Wyatt Johnston for the team lead.
Three minutes later, Rantanen, who had missed 15 games in a row with a lower-body injury, tallied his 21st of the season on another power-play opportunity.
Bichsel doubled the Stars’ advantage less than 90 seconds later on a strange sequence. He went behind the goal, stapled to Karlsson, proceeded to throw the Swede’s stick to the floor with no whistle, and then scored what turned out to be the game-winner.
Jake Oettinger improved to 7-1-0 in his career against Pittsburgh. He allowed three goals on only 12 shots, as Pittsburgh posted four, five and three shots over the three periods. Stuart Skinner made 20 stops for the Penguins.
Dallas, which entered with the fourth-best road record in the league, improved to 22-8-7 away from home.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tobias Harris sparks Pistons to road win over Timberwolves
Mar 28, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) dribbles the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) defend during the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tobias Harris scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and the Detroit Pistons pulled away for a 109-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ronald Holland II and Daniss Jenkins chipped in 13 points apiece for Detroit (54-20), which won for the sixth time in its past seven games. Paul Reed added 12 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo led Minnesota (45-29) with 22 points and made five shots from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Julius Randle notched 11 points despite missing 11 of 13 shots from the field.
Detroit outscored Minnesota 60-43 in the second half to seal the victory.
The Pistons opened the second half on a 7-1 run to go ahead by double digits. Ausar Thompson made a layup to finish the run and put Detroit ahead 56-45 with 9:53 to go in the third quarter.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points. Caris LeVert knocked down a pullup jump shot from 15 feet to make it 74-60 in favor of the Pistons.
The TImberwolves trailed by double digits for the duration of the fourth quarter. They fell behind by 20 points when Harris made a free throw with 6:04 to play.
The Pistons held on to a 49-44 advantage at the half.
Detroit led by as many as 13 points before the break. Duren made a pair of free throws to put the Pistons on top 37-24 with 9:40 remaining.
Minnesota responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 43-39 late in the half.
Both teams played without their top players. Anthony Edwards remained out for the Timberwolves because of inflammation in his right knee, and Cade Cunningham remained out for the Pistons as he recovers from a collapsed lung.
The Timberwolves also played without Jaden McDaniels (knee) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf). Terrence Shannon Jr. made his second career start in the backcourt.
–Field Level Media
Luis Robert Jr. belts three-run HR as Mets down Pirates in 11
Miko Rantanen, Stars double-up Penguins
