After a winter-storm delay and a plane-equipment issue, the San Antonio Spurs are finally on their way home to play the Orlando Magic. But in order to give the Spurs adequate time to prepare, the NBA has now pushed back the contest to 9 p.m. ET.

The NBA anticipated weather would be an issue Saturday. With the Spurs unable to leave Charlotte due to a winter storm, the league initially pushed the game time back from 3 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET.

But the Spurs experienced a minor equipment issue on their plane out of Charlotte on Sunday, forcing the team to stop in Atlanta so it could switch to a new plane. That unexpected delay forced the league to push back the game’s start time to 9 p.m. ET.

The Spurs were initially supposed to leave Charlotte following San Antonio’s 111-106 loss to the Hornets on Saturday. But Charlotte saw 11 inches of snow during the day, causing the Spurs to reschedule their flight to Sunday, hoping things would be clearer by then.

That proved to be true … but then their plane experienced an equipment issue.

After a stop in Atlanta, the Spurs’ plane finally got off the ground around 2:22 p.m. ET. It’s a two-hour flight to get back to San Antonio. From there, the team will presumably head straight to the arena to prepare for Sunday’s game against the Magic. 

Following Saturday’s loss, the Spurs sit at 32-16 entering Sunday, good for third place in the Western Conference. The Magic, meanwhile, are 25-22 and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. 

The travel issues could wind up playing a significant role in Sunday’s contest. The two teams have already met once this season, with the Spurs picking up a narrow 114-112 win over the Magic in early December. 

The Spurs will need to dig deep following a difficult couple hours of travel if they want to push past the Magic on Sunday.

Pitchers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin are swapping the color of their footwear.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan has reported that the Red Sox are shipping the pair of righties to the Chicago White Sox.

In return, Boston will be getting another young pitching prospect: right-hander Gage Ziehl, a product of the University of Miami (the Florida one, not the Ohio one). The Red Sox will also reportedly be sending $8 million along to the South Side of Chicago in order to pay some of Hicks’ salary—he’s set to make $12.5 million in both 2026 and 2027, per Spotrac.

First things first: Jordan Hicks is no longer a member of the Boston Red Sox—hit the music.

Of all of the pitchers who have ever worn a Red Sox uniform, Hicks was undoubtedly one of them. Coming over from San Francisco over the summer in a trade that involved some player I can’t remember, Hicks had previously been a guy who had shown some sick stuff—if perhaps not consistent stuff—throughout his major league career.

Alas, things just never really jived for him in Boston. Across 18.2 innings in 21 outings, Hicks logged a…(makes sure I’m not reading this wrong)…Jesus Christ, 8.20 ERA, 1.98 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 51. He walked too many guys, he didn’t strike out enough guys to justify the free passes, and his outings were consistently miserable to watch. I hope, for his own sake, that he gets back on the right track with the Pale Hose, but another year (or two) of Hicks was not going to be good for anyone’s blood pressure in Red Sox Nation.

This move is a salary dump for Boston, clearly. It sucks to move off of Sandlin to execute that salary dump—the one-time Pod On Lansdowne guest has some promise, and perhaps he’ll get a shot to realize that potential with Chicago—but eight figures off the books is nothing to sneeze at.

Plus, the Red Sox’s organizational depth within the pitching staff is solid. While Sandlin’s departure may sting, Boston now has a bit more flexibility thanks to the dumped salary and the extra 40-man roster space. Go get that infielder, Craig.

Of course, this is not the first time we’ve talked about moving off of salary via a trade involving Jordan Hicks. Rafael Devers’ trade was widely seen as a salary dump, and we are now dumping part of the salary for a guy involved in the first salary dump. It’s Dumpception.

Outside of that money-specific aspect, the return for Devers now looks…………………….interesting, to put it charitably. It’s Kyle Harrison, Jose Bello, this Ziehl fella (more on him in a second), and the brief services of Hicks and Dustin May—neither of whome were fruitful on the bump in 2025. However, I think this shows that Breslow and Co. are aware of the Sunk Cost Fallacy. They’re willing to cut their losses with Hicks and move on. That’s probably the wise thing to do, but it’s impossible to not raise the point about Devers when having this discussion.

As for Gage Ziehl, the 22-year-old pitcher joining the Red Sox organization: I’m not familiar with his game, but my quick skim on Twitter shows that he projects to be a guy with solid command in spite of a lack of powerhouse stuff. I’m sure one of my OTM colleagues who are smarter than I (so, all of them) will be able to take a deeper dive on him.

Maybe that ground ball rate speaks to the organization’s desire to build a strong defensive backbone? I dunno, just something to consider.

In the meantime, get ready for the Jordan Hicks tribute video. I’m sure there won’t be a dry eye at Fenway when the day comes.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James will miss Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden due to soreness in his lower left leg. 

James is on pace to top the number of games he played for the Lakers last season. In his rookie campaign, James played 27 games for the Lakers’ NBA squad, and this year he’s already appeared in 26. He’s bounced back and forth between the NBA and G League since being drafted in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

[Get more Lakers news: L.A. team feed]

Following Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards, James was initially listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest with the Knicks before being downgraded to out. James played five minutes in the loss on Friday, scoring four points and making 2 of 3 free-throw attempts.

Sunday’s game at MSG against the Knicks is the first of two for the Lakers in New York, with a game against the Brooklyn Nets following on Tuesday. While LeBron James’ eldest son hasn’t blown anyone away performance-wise, some of his numbers have improved in Year 2. Most notably, he’s raised his 3-point percentage from 28.1% in his rookie year to 37.5% this season. James’ overall field-goal percentage is also up from 31.3% to 37% this season. 

After the games in New York, the Lakers head back to L.A. for a seven-game homestand that’ll last over two weeks. That homestand includes games against the Warriors, Thunder, Spurs, Mavericks, Clippers, Celtics, and Magic. The Lakers are currently in sixth place in the Western Conference at 29-18. 

The Lakers and Knicks will tipoff at 7 p.m. ET from Madison Square Garden on Sunday on NBC and Peacock as part of the network’s “Sunday Night Basketball” presentation. 

The Chicago White Sox added some right-handed pitching to their bullpen after a trade with the Boston Red Sox for veteran Jordan Hicks and prospect David Sandlin, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The Red Sox are reportedly expected to acquire right-hander Gage Ziehl, whom the White Sox acquired from the New York Yankees at last year’s deadline for outfielder Austin Slater.

The Red Sox will reportedly clear $8 million of Hicks’ $24 million, according to the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon. The White Sox will use some of the salary cleared from the Luis Robert Jr. trade.

Last June, Hicks was traded to the Red Sox in the package forthird baseman Rafael Devers. In Hicks’ first year with the Red Sox, he had a 1-2 record and finished with two saves in 21 games. The 29-year-old had a 6.95 ERA, 58 strikeouts and a 1.66 WHIP. Hicks went on IL with right shoulder tendinitis.

[Get more White Sox news: South Side team feed]

This is the third time Hicks has been traded. He was also traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023. Hicks spent his first four seasons with the Cardinals after being drafted by them in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft.

Sandlin, 24, was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft before being traded to the Red Sox in 2024. Sandlin was the Red Sox’s eighth-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com. Sandlin pitched both as a starter and reliever in Double-A and Triple-A and finished with a 4.50 ERA in 106 innings.

The Red Sox also signed free-agent left-hander Ranger Suárez and traded for right-handers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo this offseason. While the White Sox have signed free-agent reliever Seranthony Domínguez, outfielder Austin Hays, left-hander Anthony Kay and infielder Munetaka Murakami.

Ziehl, 22, was drafted by the Yankees in 2022 and pitched Low-A, High-A and Double-A and finished with a 4.12 ERA in 107 innings.

The Red Sox finished the year 89-73 before their wild-card loss to the Yankees. The White Sox finished the year 60-102. They have lost 101 or more games in each of the past three seasons, including a major-league record 121 in 2024.

Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George will miss Sunday’s game against the Raptors in Toronto due to a sprained left ankle. 

George suffered the injury late in the fourth quarter of Utah’s loss to Brooklyn on Friday. In his third year as a pro, George is having a breakout season, averaging 24.2 points, 6.6 assists and 4 rebounds per game. Sunday’s meeting with the Raptors will be just the third game George has missed this season.

[Get more Jazz news: Utah team feed]

Sunday begins a five-game road trip for the Jazz, where they’ll face the Raptors, Pacers, Hawks, Magic and Heat. Utah will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak on Sunday, but it won’t be easy with George officially being ruled out. George is second on the team in points, assists and minutes per game (34.4). He’s also shooting career highs from the field (45.9%) and 3-point range (37.7%). 

George has taken a leap this season and is developing into a player who looks like a potential future All-Star. Many of his numbers are up significantly across the board, including nearly an eight-point increase in scoring after averaging 16.8 points per game last season. He’s become Utah’s second-most reliable player next to Lauri Markkanen.

Veteran forward Kevin Love is also listed as probable for Sunday due to illness, along with Jazz teammate Jusuf Nurkić, who also has an illness. The Jazz and Raptors tipoff at 6 p.m. ET Sunday from the Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto.

The Portland Trail Blazers were looking for some perimeter shooting, and may have found an answer in Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci. The Trail Blazers reportedly acquired Krejci on Sunday, giving up two second-round picks and Duop Reath to make the deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. 

Krejci, 25, is averaging a career-high nine points per game this season.

Krejci is known as a 3-point specialist. This season, the 25-year-old has a 42.3 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. That figure ranks within the top 20 in the league. He was even better last season, when he hit on 43.7 percent of his 3-point shots. 

The move comes a year-and-a-half after the Hawks signed Krejci to a four-year, $10 million deal. Krejci still has at least one year left on his deal, though the Trail Blazers can pick up a $3 million club option that keeps him in Portland through the 2027-28 NBA season.

In exchange, Portland will give up its 2027 second-round draft pick and a 2030 second-round pick that the team acquired from the New York Knicks. The team is also trading backup center Duop Reath to Atlanta as part of the deal. Reath was averaging 2.9 points per game before sustaining a season-ending foot injury.

With the deal, the Hawks now own seven future second-round picks between now and 2032. 

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Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot, or at least a spot in the play-in game as the trade deadline approaches. The Hawks sit at 24-27 entering Sunday, good for 10th place in the Eastern Conference. The Trail Blazers are 23-26 and sit in ninth place in the West.

If either team is looking to make additional moves, that will have to happen soon. The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, giving the Hawks and Trail Blazers just a few more days to make upgrades and improve their playoff chances.