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Anthony Davis reportedly suffers ligament damage in hand, may need surgery, likely out past trade deadline

Anthony Davis is getting a second opinion but appears to have sustained ligament damage in his left hand that could require surgery and will likely keep him out past the Feb. 5 NBA Trade deadline, a story first reported by Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN and since confirmed by other reports.

Those reports suggest Davis will miss "months," which would effectively end the idea he might get traded at the deadline. Concerns about his injury history are part of why there was a limited market for Davis to begin with.

The injury occurred on what appeared to be an innocent play late in Thursday's Utah win over Dallas. Lauri Markkanen drove baseline on Davis, and as Davis bodied him up, he got his hand caught up in Markkanen's jersey, and it bent or twisted on him. AD was clearly in considerable pain and left the game to go back to the locker room.

Davis, who came to Dallas as the primary return in the Luka Dončić trade (an unfair burden for him), has played well when healthy this season, averaging 20.4 points on 50.6% shooting, grabbing 11.1 rebounds per game, and playing high-level defense in the paint. When healthy, Davis remains an All-Star, maybe an All-NBA level player. He has been the focus of trade rumors as the Mavericks look to pivot to building around No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg.

One thing to watch is how Davis' injury affects a possible return by Kyrie Irving this season. If Davis is out for a significant period of time, do the Mavericks pull the plug on this season?

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Blackhawks Call Up 2 Prospects From AHL

The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that they have recalled defenseman Kevin Korchinki and goaltender Drew Commesso from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. 

Korchinski has spent all of this season down in the AHL with Rockford. In 32 games with the AHL club in 2025-26, he has recorded two goals, 17 assists, 19 points, and a minus-12 rating. This is after he had three goals, 24 assists, 27 points, and a minus-17 rating in 56 games for Rockford this past season. 

Korchinski will certainly be looking to impress after landing this call-up to the Blackhawks' roster. The 2022 seventh-overall pick is one of the Blackhawks' top prospects, so it will be fascinating to see how much of an impact he can make. 

In 92 career NHL games, Korchinski has posted six goals, 11 assists, and 17 points. 

Commesso has appeared in 19 games so far this season with the IceHogs, where he has posted a 6-11-2 record, a .909 save percentage, a 2.72 goals-against average, and one shutout. 

Commesso appeared in first two career NHL games this past season with the Blackhawks, where he had a 0-1-0 record, a .846 save percentage, and a 3.36 goals-against average. 

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Stats Show Red Wings' Patrick Kane Is Still Playing At An Elite Level

The Detroit Red Wings marked a historic milestone Thursday night as veteran winger Patrick Kane scored the 500th goal of his NHL career, sealing a 5–1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks with an empty-netter late in the third period.

The goal not only cemented Kane’s place among the NHL’s elite scorers, but also capped his first multi-goal performance of the season. At 37 years old, Kane once again demonstrated that age has done little to diminish his ability to influence games at the sport’s highest level.

Kane’s milestone comes during a season in which expectations were mixed. Before the year began, the Buffalo native raised eyebrows by stating his desire to contend for a spot on Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Despite battling injuries that sidelined him at times, Kane has backed up that ambition with production, recording 26 points in 30 games for Detroit.

When he is in the lineup, Kane continues to be a difference maker. Following his 500th goal, the NHL highlighted several advanced metrics underscoring his continued effectiveness. Kane ranks in the 94th percentile among forwards in long-range shots on goal and the 87th percentile in mid-range shots, illustrating that his shot remains among the league’s most dangerous.

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He has also remained a key contributor on the power play. Kane sits in the 86th percentile for forwards in power play offensive zone time percentage at 62.1 percent and is one of just five Red Wings players with at least ten power play points this season.

All signs point to a player who still has plenty left in the tank, even as he plays on a one year deal in Detroit. For Red Wings fans, Kane’s resurgence has been both entertaining and meaningful, as his presence has helped push the team closer to contender status.

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Exile on Main Street: Manfred, MLB Will Go to Bat for 9 RSN Expats

A day after nine Major League Baseball clubs officially terminated their contracts with Main Street Sports, the parent company of the FanDuel-branded RSNs is attempting to bring the teams back into the fold.

Main Street’s course-changing efforts are said to include offering revised terms to its departing MLB partners, although given the endemic stressors on the regional distribution model, any new deals are likely to hinge on reduced fee structures.

As first reported by The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, the dissolution of the RSN contracts effectively serves as a safeguarding measure in the event Main Street files for bankruptcy. The company of late had been negotiating a sale of its assets to DAZN, but those talks are said to have sputtered out. Scuttlebutt about the emergence of a second potential buyer remains unconfirmed.

“We remain in dialogue with all of our team and league partners as we progress discussions with potential strategic partners to enhance our long-term capital position,” a Main Street Sports spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Three of the teams that have elected to walk away from their in-market media deals—the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers—had re-upped with Main Street in early November. Also choosing to exit were the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.

The ongoing erosion of the pay-TV bundle has continued to plague the RSN business, and while Main Street predecessor Diamond Sports Group officially exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a year ago, court documents made it clear that a post-reorg cash crunch was all but inevitable. In one projection, Diamond’s number crunchers estimated that total linear TV revenue would decline 19% in 2025 from $2.17 billion to $1.75 billion, while this year’s take was expected to fall to $1.65 billion.

While advertising dollars were largely expected to hold up, far more significant losses were thought to be in store on the distribution front. Per an unaudited projected income statement filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston in April 2024, DSG anticipated that carriage fees would plummet 28% between 2024 and 2026, which would work out to a net loss of $498 million in distribution revenue. DSG had projected a more moderate 5% dip in advertising revenue over the same period, which translates to an anticipated loss of $20 million in sales.

The ongoing exodus from the legacy pay-TV bundle continued apace last year, as an estimated 5 million cable/satellite/telcoTV subscribers cut the cord. Per MoffettNathanson estimates, the bundled headcount fell another 10% to 43.2 million households in the third quarter, reducing penetration to just 34% of all U.S. TV homes. Even when virtual MVPDs are blended with the traditional TV platforms, the overall tally (64.8 million subs) represents just 50.6% of homes that use television.

At the industry’s peak in 2010, when some 105 million customers mailed out paper checks to cover their monthly TV bills, nine in 10 homes subscribed to a pay-TV package.

Despite the steady subscriber losses, the FanDuel RSNs saw their MLB ratings improve by 18% in 2025, as in-game coverage averaged 1.5 million viewers across all platforms. Per internal Main Street estimates, MLB games last season accounted for more than 2.8 billion minutes of consumption, a figure which marked a doubling on the year-ago results.

The incredible shrinking bundle has posed an existential threat to the RSNs long before Diamond filed for bankruptcy in March 2023. In an early filing with the Houston court, the company stated that it had lost 22 million subscribers, or 35% of its customer base, since 2019. While the vMVPDs have in some measure helped claw back a chunk of pay-TV apostates, most of those slimmed-down platforms don’t have carriage deals in place with any RSNs. In other words, Main Street doesn’t necessarily benefit from the recapturing of consumers via alternative video services.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday addressed the RSN situation during an appearance on WFAN’s The Carton Show. “No matter what happens, Major League Baseball is in a position to put all of the games on locally and to make a digital streaming product available in-market for those fans,” Manfred said. They will never miss a game.”

Baseball first began bailing out some of its RSN-affiliated clubs in 2023, when it assumed control of the San Diego Padres’ local broadcasts after Diamond missed a payment. Other teams that have since found shelter under the MLB Media umbrella include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins. Meanwhile, in the wake of the shuttering of ROOT Sports, the Seattle Mariners last fall announced their intention to cede local distribution to MLB before the start of the 2026 season.   

And the defections continue to pile up. Upon the dissolution of their longstanding, often turbulent arrangement with the Baltimore Orioles’ Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, the Washington Nationals are also in the hunt for a new local TV home.

Manfred said MLB is ready to provide a similar service to the nine clubs that voided their Main Street contracts. “Remember, two years ago, there was a bankruptcy filing, [and] San Diego, they pulled the plug on them,” Manfred said. “We put them up in one day. There was never a game missed. So, we are prepared, even if all nine end up without an alternative, MLB will have them, they will be available on cable in the markets and there will be a digital alternative.

Unfortunately for the newly stateless nine, MLB’s backstopping won’t include any cash considerations. While reserves of as much as $15 million were allocated to teams that walked away from their RSN deals in 2024, Manfred during a separate Thursday media hit said the league would not be providing financial assistance to any clubs that align with MLB Media in the coming year. The discretionary-spending policy appears to have been a one-shot deal, as similar payments were not extended in 2025.

In addition to the option of signing on with MLB Media, the exiting teams may also seek to forge in-market deals with over-the-air providers like Scripps Sports and Gray Television. The current crisis was precipitated last month when Main Street missed a scheduled rights payment to the Cardinals.

(Updated with a statement from Main Street Sports.)

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Flyers Important Defender Placed On Injured Reserve

The Philadelphia Flyers have placed defenseman Jamie Drysdale on injured reserve (IR), the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jackie Spiegel reports. 

Drysdale being placed on IR comes after the right-shot defenseman was injured after receiving a dirty hit from Anaheim Ducks forward Ross Johnston on Jan. 6. Johnston was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit, but did not receive any more discipline from NHL Player Safety. 

Drysdale did not play for the Flyers during their most recent contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 8. Now, with this IR placement, the soonest Drysdale will be able to return for the Flyers is Jan. 14 against the Buffalo Sabres. 

With Drysdale being one of the Flyers' most important defensemen, it is certainly tough news that he is injured. The 23-year-old blueliner has been having a solid year for the Flyers in 2025-26, as he has recorded three goals, 15 assists, 18 points, and a plus-1 rating in 41 games. 

In 135 games with the Flyers since being acquired from the Ducks during the 2023-24 season, Drysdale has posted 12 goals, 31 assists, and 43 points. 

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What we learned as Steph Curry's 27 points topple Kings in Warriors' blowout win

What we learned as Steph Curry's 27 points topple Kings in Warriors' blowout win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – A little more than two months ago, the Warriors were responsible for granting the Sacramento Kings one of their eight wins on the season in a game where all three of their stars were out.

Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green suited up Friday night and made sure the Kings couldn’t reach their ninth win in a 137-103 victory at Chase Center. Those three did it all in a blowout win where the Warriors outscored the Kings 74-44 in the second half.

In a game where seven Warriors scored in double figures, Curry finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting and was 6 of 12 from 3-point range. He also had a season-high 10 assists and blocked two shots for the fourth time this season.

Butler was a plus-20 with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Green added 11 points, six rebounds, eight assists and made three 3-pointers.

All three received the kind of help that was expected against a team that had lost six straight. The Warriors’ bench outscored the Kings 66-38. As a team, they also outrebounded the Kings by 10, had 16 more assists than them and made 12 more threes.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors improving to 21-18 on the season:

No Stopping Steph 

There’s one reason, and one reason only, Kings guard Keon Ellis started his fifth game of the season: To defend and disrupt Curry. Good luck with that.

Curry and the Warriors went right after Ellis to begin the game. Whether it was Curry crossing him up or Green setting a screen that had Ellis seeing stars, it wasn’t a fun night for the young Kings guard. He wasn’t alone in that regard, either. 

While Ellis took the brunt of Curry’s 11-point first quarter, nobody had an answer for him. Fellow guards tried. So did wings and big men. It didn’t matter. Curry got to 18 points at halftime and reached 27 through three quarters.

While the Warriors scored 40 points in the fourth quarter, they didn’t need any from Curry. He again was extremely efficient in his first double-double of points and assists of the season. Curry now has scored 25 or more points in 11 of his last 13 games.

The Group That Created Separation

No matter the jersey he wears, Dennis Schroder always finds a way to be a pest against the Warriors. After his rocky tenure here last season that sparked yet another trade for him, Schroder surely wanted to remind the Warriors who he is.

With a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter, Schroder hit a jumper to tie the game at 84 points apiece and had some words for the Warriors’ bench. But Golden State had an answer. 

And it was a group of Butler, surrounded by stingy bench players. Butler, along with Brandin Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton and Al Horford, went on a 13-0 run to close the quarter. Melton scored six straight points and had nine of the 13, followed by two each from Richard and Horford. Butler assisted three of the five made shots in that run.

After scoring 20 points for the first time in over two years, Melton wound up with 19 off the bench. The Warriors are now 5-0 when he makes multiple threes this season.

Earned Rest

When the Warriors led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, they could have quickly put the game away and allowed their veteran Big Three of Curry, Butler and Green to take a seat the rest of the way. That didn’t happen in an eventual seven-point win.

Curry played a team-high 34 minutes against the Bucks. Butler was second with 32 and Green was third with 29. Thanks to the separation that was created at the end of the third quarter and continued into the fourth, the stars got the rest they earned. 

Butler watched the entire fourth quarter against the Kings from the bench and played just 23 minutes. Curry played six-plus minutes in the fourth and was the only Warrior to play more than 30 minutes. Green spent a little more than five minutes on the floor in the fourth and ended at 27 minutes.

Though the Warriors don’t have a back-to-back until the last two games of their current eight-game homestand, they get little time for rest and recovery in between games. Against their Northern California rivals, the stars never needed to exhaust themselves.

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Observations after Sixers grind out win over Magic, shrug off cold shooting

Observations after Sixers grind out win over Magic, shrug off cold shooting  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers outplayed the Magic in the second half and earned their fifth win in six games Friday night.

They picked up a 103-91 victory in Orlando and moved to 21-15 on the season. The Magic fell to 21-18. 

Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and three steals.

Joel Embiid posted 22 points and nine rebounds. Paul George added 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Sixers had everyone available for the second consecutive game. Orlando’s Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva were out with injuries.

The Magic’s leading scorers were Desmond Bane with 23 points and Anthony Black with 21. Paolo Banchero had 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

The Sixers will play the Raptors on both Sunday and Monday nights in Toronto. Here are observations on their win over the Magic:

Brick-heavy first half

Orlando’s offensive rebounding was an early problem for the Sixers. Bane laid in his own miss and Sixers head coach Nick Nurse called timeout with his team trailing 6-1. 

The Sixers’ frigid shooting start wound up being a far larger issue. They began 4 for 18 from the floor and 0 for 12 from three-point range. Maxey missed his first six field goals, including several open long-distance shots. 

The Magic’s shooting wasn’t much better and the game stayed close. Quentin Grimes finally hit the Sixers’ first triple early in the second quarter, which knotted the score at 31-all. 

Outside shooting remained a giant weakness for both offenses throughout the evening. At halftime, the teams were a combined 3 for 33 beyond the arc. The numbers at the final buzzer were 8 for 57 (14 percent).

Sixers win in key areas

The Sixers used a 10-man rotation. Adem Bona received his first DNP since Dec. 14 and Andre Drummond played 17 minutes as Embiid’s backup.

Kelly Oubre Jr. came off the bench and shot 0 for 5 from the field in his second game after returning from a left knee LCL sprain. He couldn’t hit a couple of contested layups and lacked his typical decisiveness as a driver. 

The Sixers did get plenty of multiple-shot possessions to compensate for their many misses. They had 15 offensive rebounds in the first half and a season high-tying 21 in the game.

To their credit, the Sixers didn’t appear too demoralized by how they were shooting. The team also earned advantages Friday in the turnovers column (19 to 13) and at the foul line (21 makes to the Magic’s 15). The Sixers have been a top-five team this season in free throw percentage. They went 21 for 25 (87.5 percent) at the charity stripe in Orlando. 

Stars shine after halftime

Both Embiid and Maxey looked like their usual selves in the third quarter.

Embiid troubled the Magic with his physicality and foul drawing. Maxey found frequent success driving into the paint. His second three-pointer of the third quarter gave the Sixers an 80-72 lead and Orlando didn’t have the necessary firepower to respond.

George stepped up with important shotmaking early in the fourth quarter as Maxey and Embiid rested. The Sixers ran their offense through George and he scored a few 1-on-1 buckets. The veteran forward also assisted a short Drummond bank shot that put the Sixers up double digits for the first time.

Their first-half performance was obviously not the prettiest, but the Sixers played a good second half and will be satisfied with the win on a night they set new season lows in made threes (four) and three-point percentage (14.3). 

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What we learned as Kings' skid hits seven games with blowout loss to Warriors

What we learned as Kings' skid hits seven games with blowout loss to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Good thing the NBA doesn’t award style points, because this would have been a unanimous zero from all the judges. With few exceptions, it was that bad.

Facing a Warriors team that clearly was playing down to the competition, the Kings still managed to let this one slip through their fingers and came up on the bad end of a 137-103 thumping on Friday at Chase Center that extended Sacramento’s losing streak to seven games and 13 of 15.

The tough part is that the seven-game skid isn’t even the Kings’ longest of the 2025-26 NBA season. They’re first two cracks at ending the streak are at home against the Houston Rockets on Sunday then against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, also at Golden 1 Center.

That’s not a lot of time to lick their wounds, so the Kings have to flush this one as soon as possible.

DeMar DeRozan led the way against the Warriors with 24 points. Zach LaVine and Dennis Schröder scored 15 points apiece while Russell Westbrook added 13 points and seven assists.

LaVine and Maxime Raynaud helped the Kings get going early, combining for 13 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, although they didn’t get much defensive help as the Warriors piled up 34 points in the opening 12 minutes.

Sacramento cleaned things up a little in the second quarter but fell back into its old patterns in the third. DeRozan had 11 points, but the Kings as a team shot 9 of 20 (1 of 9 behind the arc) and fell behind by 13 heading into the fourth.

Here are the takeaways from Friday’s blowout loss:

Smoke and Mirrors

As ugly as this one was at the end, it could have been a whole lot worse all things considered, so credit Doug Christie for that.

Christie goes under the radar a lot of nights, but the Kings coach deserves a lot of credit for the way Sacramento was able to stick close against their Northern California rivals for most of the night before letting go of the rope in the fourth quarter.

The Kings were on the short end in just about every significant category, a formula that ends with an L more often than not. And that’s what happened at Chase Center, although Christie and the Kings somehow prevented this one from being an even more lopsided loss.

The Kings shot 25 percent from behind the arc, got outrebounded 41-32 and allowed 66 points to Golden State’s bench.

Give It To Me One More Time

The Kings shot the ball fairly well early on, but it was their work on the glass that really kept them close. Specifically, Sacramento’s offensive rebounding.

The Kings have been among the lower-third of NBA teams when it comes to snagging boards on the offensive end for most of the season but turned that trend around against the Warriors. Sacramento outscored Golden State 15-0 in second-chance points in the first quarter and finished the night with 10 offensive boards that led to 19 second-chance points.

Dylan Cardwell led the way with four offensive rebounds, while Raynaud and DeRozan each had two.

Take Care Of The Ball, Take Care Of Business

Across sports there is one axiom that generally rings true: The team that takes care of the ball the best tends to win.

While the Kings didn’t leave the Bay Area with a victory, they can at least hold their heads high for doing a great job of holding onto the ball and not cough it up carelessly.

Sacramento committed 13 turnovers that Golden State converted into 20 points, still too high for Christie’s liking but certainly better than his squad had been playing. The Kings also had 13 turnovers during Tuesday’s loss to Dallas.

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Free agent outfielder Max Kepler hit with 80-game ban for positive drug test

Max Kepler of the Phillies celebrates his solo home run in the seventh inning of a May game against the Diamondbacks.Photograph: Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Free agent outfielder Max Kepler has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, Major League Baseball announced on Friday, a ruling that sidelines the veteran as he looks for his next club.

The suspension stems from a positive test for epitrenbolone, a metabolite of the prohibited steroid trenbolone prohibited under MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The ban takes effect immediately and would apply if Kepler signs with a team during the 2026 season.

Related: Trump loomed over baseball’s Hall of Fame. But voters still said no to Bonds and Clemens

Kepler, who turns 33 next month, is an 11-year major league veteran who spent the first decade of his career with the Minnesota Twins before joining the Philadelphia Phillies last season. As a free agent, he was not under contract at the time of the announcement but remains subject to the league’s drug program.

In a statement, MLB said the suspension was issued following a violation of its jointly administered drug policy with the Major League Baseball Players Association. The league did not provide further details about the circumstances of the test or whether Kepler intends to appeal.

Epitrenbolone has been linked to past anti-doping cases across professional sports. In 2018, the substance was cited in the suspension of heavyweight boxer Manuel Charr after a positive test halted his title defense. It was also at the center of a US Anti-Doping Agency case involving a 90-year-old American cyclist who was stripped of a masters world record in 2020.

Kepler, a native of Berlin who holds the MLB career record for home runs by a German-born player, debuted with the Twins in 2015 and emerged as a fixture in their outfield, known for his left-handed power and steady defense. He was a key contributor to multiple postseason teams in Minnesota, including the club’s division-winning seasons in 2019 and 2020.

An 80-game suspension is the standard penalty for a first offense under MLB’s drug program involving performance-enhancing substances. Players suspended under the policy are ineligible to participate in regular-season games or the postseason during the suspension period and do not receive pay.

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NBA Trade Rumors 2025-26: Now Atlanta can go hard after Anthony Davis, but should they?

We've had one big trade — Trae Young going to the Wizards — and now another big name is available at the deadline in Ja Morant (for the latest on him, click here). Let's break down the latest rumors.

Pelicans standing pat

There are a number of teams interested in Pelicans' wings Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III, but not at a return that decision maker Joe Dumars and the Pelicans consider fair, so they are taking their ball and going home, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes.

Two thoughts. First, this is a classic "we're walking away from the negotiating table" tactic to encourage better offers. Maybe those come, maybe they don't, but the Pelicans are not done talking. Second, there was zero chance that Derik Queen or Jeremiah Fears are now or were ever available via trade.

Anthony Davis

In the wake of trading away Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks gave themselves more financial flexibility to go after an Anthony Davis trade, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. The Hawks didn't want the massive contracts of Young and Davis on the books at the same time, according to the report, but now Young is out the door for an expiring contract in CJ McCollum, giving the Hawks more flexibility.

Atlanta has been the most aggressive suitor for an Anthony Davis trade. Should they be? Should the Hawks go after Davis?

I just do not like the fit. Let's stipulate that, when healthy, Davis is a top-15-20 player in the league who impacts the game on both ends of the court. He just had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks last night and — again, when healthy — would boost the Hawks frontcourt.

But he is a 32-year-old with a lengthy injury history — he has played 65+ games once in the previous eight seasons and has missed 18 games already this season — who is owed $58 million next season, has a $62 million player option for the season after that, and is looking for a contract extension.

Atlanta is now what every team in the league is striving to be — long, athletic, young and versatile. And, they are going to end up with a very high draft pick next June in a very deep draft, courtesy of the New Orleans Pelicans. The rest of the Hawks' core is young. Jalen Johnson should be an All-Star this season and is 24, Dyson Daniels is 22, Zaccharie Risacher is 20, and the "old man" of the group is Nickeil Alexander-Walker at 27.

Adding Davis, who will be 33 next season when the Hawks want to make a push and become a threat in the East, changes that dynamic — and how many wins does he really bring with him? Atlanta would need Davis to play the five, but he famously does not want to do that full-time and prefers to play at the four.

If Atlanta wants to make this trade, it cannot aggregate CJ McCollum or Corey Kispert into it under the terms of the CBA. That means the trade would have to center on returning Kristaps Porziņģis to Dallas, plus adding the 2024 No. 1 overall pick, Risacher, and Luke Kennard. Atlanta has reportedly been adamant that it does not want to include Risacher in a trade for Davis.

Atlanta should get out of the Davis market, look for a point guard such as Coby White who might be available (or other players on the margins), and, this off-season, look for a star player on the timeline of their other talent. Trading away Young to bring in Davis feels like a lateral move.

Dallas may get to see what Davis, Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving look like playing together after all, with any major roster changes on hold until the summer.

Jonathan Kuminga

Going back to last offseason, the Sacramento Kings have been the team most often linked to a Kuminga trade. It makes some sense, the Kings are simply in need of more young talent and taking a flier on Kuminga — hoping a new setting will help him thrive — is not a bad roll of the dice.

The challenge? Golden State doesn't like what Sacramento has to offer, reports Sam Amick at The Athletic.

Yet because the Warriors have shown no interest in the Kings' many available veterans, a third team likely will be required to get something done. There's this key development, too: While the Kings offered a protected 2030 first-round pick and Monk when they tried to land Kuminga via sign-and-trade in the summer, league sources say the first-round pick is no longer in play.

The Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards also have "all have different levels of interest" in Kuminga, reports Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Kuminga can be traded as of Jan. 15, but don't expect an immediate deal once the restrictions are off. Nothing seems particularly close to happening at this point.

Domantas Sabonis

While we are talking about the Kings' trades, Domantas Sabonis continues to be linked to the Toronto Raptors, a team known to be looking for a center, reports Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. Just a reminder that the current Kings general manager, Scott Perry, drafted both RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley when he was with the Knicks.

New York Knicks

While the Knicks may have lost 4-of-5, don't expect that to push them toward a major trade or shaking up this roster. What owner James Dolan said in a rare interview reportedly is the thinking internally at Madison Square Garden — they like their team as it is and their chances of making the NBA Finals. Here is what James L. Edwards III wrote at The Athletic.

"Per league sources, before this skid, any move the Knicks made — if they made one at all — would be around the margins."

Don't expect that to change unless this slump — and the team's struggling defense — continues. Then all bets are off.