Read More

Read More

Read More

Read More

CHICAGO — Boston Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill left Friday’s start against the Chicago Cubs because of a sprained left knee.

Hill had a 4-0 lead through four innings before exiting during a three-run fifth. The Cubs would go on to rally for a 6-5 win.

“I feel stupid for staying in, to be honest with you, stubborn,” Hill said after the game. “Put us in a really bad position, and unfortunately, that falls on me, my stubbornness staying in and wanting to compete.”

The 42-year-old left-hander walked P.J. Higgins leading off. Nelson Vel?zquez then tripled off the center-field wall and scored on a groundout by Christopher Morel,

Hill appeared to be shaking his left leg at one point and was visited by an athletic trainer. Hill exited after hitting Patrick Wisdom to load the bases with two outs.

Hill said he felt a “pop” in the knee on a breaking ball in the fifth inning and in the moment thought it was something he could pitch through. He mentioned his past MCL issues, most recently in 2019, and said the team would hopefully know more about the extent of the injury in the coming days.

Hill, who debuted with the Cubs in 2005, gave up three runs and three hits. He walked four and struck out three.

Tyler Danish came in and walked Rafael Ortega, cutting the gap to 4-3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read More

When Kevin Durant informed the Brooklyn Nets he would like to be traded away from the franchise, it kicked off one of the biggest negotiations in NBA history.

How do we know this? Because, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, half the teams across the league have already made inquiries. But it’s far from the first time an all-time great player has changed teams in the NBA. In fact, over the past 20 years, it has happened time and again, from Shaquille O’Neal to Kevin Garnett to Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, just to name a few.

So in order to process exactly what a Kevin Durant deal might look like, here are three lessons learned from some of the biggest trade demands in NBA history.

Lesson 1: Don’t expect to get the other team’s best player

Naturally, a team in Brooklyn’s position is going to ask for the best young player on the other team. That’s exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers did in 2004, when they began discussing parameters to land O’Neal. Their target? An explosive rookie shooting guard named Dwyane Wade.

The Heat quickly hung up the phone.

2 Related

Eventually, Los Angeles called back with a different ask: centering a trade around emerging young forward Lamar Odom, who had partnered with Wade to lead the Miami Heat to an impressive run to the second round in the Eastern Conference playoffs the prior season, and whom the Heat had pursued for years before landing him as a restricted free agent the prior summer.

The Heat agreed.

And so it was settled. Miami sent its second-and-third best players, Odom and Butler, to Los Angeles, along with draft picks, in exchange for O’Neal’s services.

So while the Nets will undoubtedly be seeking the premium player from every one of Durant’s suitors, it is more likely that the package looks like a bigger version of what Miami gave up: promising young players, plus a multitude of draft picks going to Brooklyn.

Lesson 2: The stars often have a say

When a star player makes a trade demand, they tend to have input in how the negotiations play out.

Consider the eventually failed negotiations between the Lakers and Chicago Bulls in 2007. Kobe Bryant had decided he wanted to play for the Bulls, but in every package that the Lakers proposed, forward Luol Deng was the centerpiece going back to Los Angeles.

Stay up to date on the latest NBA free agency and trade news all summer long:

There was only one problem: Bryant wouldn’t approve a trade to Chicago that included Deng in the deal. Why? Because he didn’t want to wind up in another situation in which he wouldn’t have the kind of chance to win a championship.

And so the whole deal screeched to a halt.

How is this instructive for what’s happening now with Durant? Two reasons: 1) Teams aren’t going to put themselves in a position in which they have to trade so much of their roster that they won’t be in championship contention. And, 2) For his part, Durant won’t be thrilled, either, with the prospect of joining a team that isn’t able to contend.

Lesson 3: Sometimes it takes a surprising missing piece

When a team is trying to acquire a player of Durant’s caliber, it’s not always the case that they have everything that a team like the Nets would be looking for in exchange.

That was something the LA Clippers learned in 2019 – the last time the league endured a seismic shakeup like this one — when Kawhi Leonard chose to join them.

However, when Leonard informed the Clippers of his decision, picking them over — among other teams — the Toronto Raptors, with whom he’d just won an NBA championship, and the Lakers, he had a stipulation: He wanted to play with Paul George.

There was just one problem: George was under contract for multiple seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That meant the next call the Clippers made wasn’t to set up a party to celebrate Leonard’s arrival — but, instead, to the Thunder, where Oklahoma City’s executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti extracted a massive haul of players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and multitudes of draft picks to send George to Los Angeles.

Throughout these negotiations, there will be teams that likely have some assets Brooklyn desires — but not everything. It would be hard for any team to check all the boxes in what could be the biggest return for a star player the league has ever seen.

But what the Nets can do, like Leonard did three years ago, is tell those teams what they want, and work with them to supplement the return to get a deal over the line.

Every negotiation is unique. But as we look ahead to how the Kevin Durant deal could take shape, history shows the various factors the Nets will be working through to find an acceptable deal for their superstar.

Read More

CHICAGO — Boston Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill left Friday’s start against the Chicago Cubs because of a sprained left knee.

Hill had a 4-0 lead through four innings before exiting during a three-run fifth.

The 42-year-old left-hander walked P.J. Higgins leading off. Nelson Vel?zquez then tripled off the center-field wall and scored on a groundout by Christopher Morel,

Hill appeared to be shaking his leg at one point and was visited by an athletic trainer. Hill exited after hitting Patrick Wisdom to load the bases with two outs.

Tyler Danish came in and walked Rafael Ortega, cutting the gap to 4-3.

Hill, who debuted with the Cubs in 2005, gave up three runs and three hits. He walked four and struck out three.

Read More

The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat saw their championship odds improve at sportsbooks when news broke Thursday that Kevin Durant was requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and reportedly eyeing those two contenders.

Bettors, however, have been gravitating toward a team that hasn’t made any significant moves to a roster that missed the playoffs last season — the Los Angeles Lakers.

In a 24-hour span, beginning Thursday afternoon, multiple sportsbooks reported receiving a surge of betting interest on the Lakers to win next season’s championship. The Lakers’ title odds moved from 22-1 to 10-1 at Caesars Sportsbook, where Los Angeles attracted 3.5 times more betting handle than any other team since Wednesday afternoon. Included in the rush of Lakers action was a $10,000 bet at 22-1 odds from a bettor in New York, according to Caesars.

2 Related

“People always think the Lakers will end up with everybody,” Eric Fenstermaker, senior trading manager for Caesars Sportsbook, said Friday in a company release, adding that the book took enough $1,000 and $500 bets on the Lakers to make Los Angeles its largest liability in the NBA title market.

DraftKings also saw a flurry of bets on the Lakers. Since Thursday afternoon, more bets had been placed on the Lakers than had been placed on any other team, a DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN.

The Nets saw their odds lengthen from 15-2 to 35-1 at Caesars Sportsbook after the news of Durant’s trade request. Fenstermaker said Brooklyn would likely grow to even bigger long shots.

“The Nets being 35-1 now is probably still too low, but it depends what they get back for Durant,” Fenstermaker said. “If they’re going to punt and roll with [Ben] Simmons and a bunch of no-names, they’re going to be 80-1 or 100-1.”

The Nets began last season as the consensus favorites to win the NBA title.

Read More

At City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph, Chicago
Thursday, July 28, 2022
5:30 – 7:30 p.m., with program at 6:00 p.m.

The Reader Institute for Community Journalism highlights the intersections of law and journalism at the Lawyers for Social Justice reception.

Speakers: Jill Wine-Banks, Author, The Watergate Girl; MSNBC analyst; co-host, #SistersInLaw and iGenPolitics Podcasts, Jason DeSanto, Senior Lecturer at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader senior writer.

Hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and soft drinks included. Individual tickets start at $250. Visit chicagoreader.com/legal22 to purchase tickets or sponsor the event.

Hosts

Baron Harris Healey Jim Bennett & Terry Vanden HoekSam Coady The Joseph & Bessie Feinberg FoundationChristie HefnerDavid HillerElizabeth McKnight & Dalila Fridi  

Co-Hosts

James Anderson, Matrimonial Attorney, Founder and President of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd.Bernstein Law Firm LLCJudge Tom Chiola (ret.)Cohen Law GroupCommissioner Bridget GainerDavid HoffmanMichael Kreloff Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.Michael Mock, WestPoint Financial Planning and Wealth ManagementEdward MogulGail H. Morse & Lauren Verdich

Event Partners

For more information, to purchase tickets, or sponsor this event, please reach out to Development Director JT Newman at [email protected]. The Reader Institute for Community Journalism is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit. Your donation is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Read More

At City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph, Chicago
Thursday, July 28, 2022
5:30 – 7:30 p.m., with program at 6:00 p.m.

The Reader Institute for Community Journalism highlights the intersections of law and journalism at the Lawyers for Social Justice reception.

Speakers: Jill Wine-Banks, Author, The Watergate Girl; MSNBC analyst; co-host, #SistersInLaw and iGenPolitics Podcasts, Jason DeSanto, Senior Lecturer at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader senior writer.

Hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and soft drinks included. Individual tickets start at $250. Visit chicagoreader.com/legal22 to purchase tickets or sponsor the event.

Hosts

Baron Harris Healey Jim Bennett & Terry Vanden HoekSam Coady The Joseph & Bessie Feinberg FoundationChristie HefnerDavid HillerElizabeth McKnight & Dalila Fridi  

Co-Hosts

James Anderson, Matrimonial Attorney, Founder and President of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd.Bernstein Law Firm LLCJudge Tom Chiola (ret.)Cohen Law GroupCommissioner Bridget GainerDavid HoffmanMichael Kreloff Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.Michael Mock, WestPoint Financial Planning and Wealth ManagementEdward MogulGail H. Morse & Lauren Verdich

Event Partners

For more information, to purchase tickets, or sponsor this event, please reach out to Development Director JT Newman at [email protected]. The Reader Institute for Community Journalism is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit. Your donation is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Read More