Today In Sport: February 6th, 2025

Multiple NBA blockbuster trades go down, Newcastle advance to Carabao Cup final, and Australia make progress in second Sri Lankan test, plus more.

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

Multiple Blockbuster NBA Trades Go Down

With the hours counting down before the closure of the NBA trade deadline, numerous noticeable players have were traded around the league.

The Bucks made the bold choice to move on from Khris Middleton after eleven years in Milwaukee. The Bucks, who also sent out AJ Johnson and a first rounder, will receive Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr and a second round pick.

Milwaukee will also receive center Jericho Sims from New York. The Knicks will acquire Delon Wright and cash.

Middleton, who will go down as a Bucks legend, won a championship and made three all star appearances during his time in Milwaukee. However, since the arrival of Damian Lillard, Middleton's numbers have dropped, as he's only averaged 12.6 points this season, his lowest PPG average since his first season in Milwaukee.

Kuzma has also experienced a slump this season, with his average of 15.2 points per game his lowest since arriving in Washington. However, Kuzma has experience being the third best player on a championship winning team from his time in Los Angeles. Kuzma was a well-respected sidekick to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, as the Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship.

Elsewhere, the Jimmy Butler era has finally come to an end in Miami, as Butler joins Stephen Curry in Golden State, in a four team trade that also involved Detroit and Utah.

Andrew Wiggins headlines the package Miami are receiving, along with PJ Tucker, Kyle Anderson, and a first round pick. The Pistons are acquiring Lindy Waters III and Josh Richardson, while Dennis Schroder heads to the Jazz.

By acquiring Butler, the Warriors aim to make one last push under Stephen Curry for a fifth championship. They currently sit eleventh in the Western Conference.

The Heat, meanwhile, finally put the pen down after writing their most successful chapter since LeBron James left in 2014. Under Butler, the Heat made two NBA finals, with Butler dropping eight 40+ point games during the playoffs in a Heat jersey.

In New Orleans, the Pelicans have fully committed to capturing the Flagg. The Pelicans are set to receive Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk, one first-round pick and one second-round pick for the one time all star.

While the move makes sense for New Orleans, who are also going to be without the injured Dejounte Murray for the remainder of the season, and probably will not play Zion Williamson much, it doesn't make as much sense for Toronto, who seemed to be entering their own tanking era.

Instead, Ingram partners up with Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett in Canada. While this is a solid big three, it doesn't seem to be enough to make a serious run at a championship, while also not being bad enough to get a significant franchise altering draft pick.

Other trades made include the Kings strengthening their frontcourt depth by adding Jonas Valanciunas, sending out Sidy Cissoko and two second round picks to Washington, and the Lakers adding a much needed center in Mark Williams, with Charlotte receiving Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 pick swap and a 2031 first round pick.

The trade deadline concludes at 3PM ET, on February 6th.

Newcastle Advance To Carabao Cup Final

Following a 2-0 win against Arsenal, concluding a 4-0 win over the tie, Newcastle have qualified for their second Carabao Cup final in three years.

Newcastle, who defeated Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg of the tie a month ago, repeated the scoreline at St. James Park through goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon.

Being down 2-0 at the start of the game, Arsenal immediately looked to attack, and would almost regret it as Alexander Isak scored three minutes in. Thankfully for the Gunners, it was called offside.

But when Isak went in on goal fifteen minutes later, hitting the post before Jacob Murphy scored the rebound, the linesman couldn't save Arsenal this time. Newcastle led 3-0 in the tie and had one foot in the final.

Arsenal continued to pepper shots at goal, but couldn't find the net. And when a mistake while playing out the back led to Anthony Gordon scoring, the tie was all but buried.

Speaking to the media after the game, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe praised his side for qualifying for the final, as Newcastle are now one game away from winning their first major trophy since 1956.

“It was a great night for us. It was a tough game but tactically we were good. The intention was to be aggressive and sometimes when you do that it doesn’t always work. Today it did. I thought it helped to solidify our plan. We had to retreat at times but we were always in the game."

- Eddie Howe on Newcastle qualifying for the Carabao Cup final.

Newcastle will play either Liverpool or Tottenham in the final. Tottenham lead 1-0, with the second leg set to be played tomorrow.

Australia Open Second Test Against Sri Lanka With A Bang

Following a commanding victory in their first test against Sri Lanka, Australia have opened the second test in Galle with another dominant performance.

Sri Lanka, who won the toss and elected to bat, are down nine wickets after the first day, as Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon led the way for the Aussies with three wickets each.

Lyon started it off with the first three wickets of the game, bowling both Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne, before Alex Carey caught Angelo Matthews.

First drop Dinesh Chandimal did well to keep Sri Lanka in the game, making 74 runs off 163 games, but he would eventually walk back to the pavillion after being stumped.

Sri Lanka's middle and bottom order failed to keep Sri Lanka in the game, as Dhananjaya de Silva and Prabath Jayasuriya were both dismissed on golden ducks, while Nishan Peiris also departed on a duck after facing three balls.

Steve Smith, meanwhile, made history as he took his 197th test catch, surpassing Ricky Ponting's Australian record of 196.

Sri Lanka's final batsmen are Kusal Mendis (59) and Lahiru Kumara (0). Once one of them are dismissed tomorrow, Australia will begin their first innings of batting with over three days to spare.

Medvedev Crashes Out of Rotterdam Open

In a shock defeat, Mattia Bellucci has defeated Daniil Medvedev in the round of sixteen of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 6-3, 6⁶-7⁸, 6-3.

Bellucci, who narrowly lost the second set after comfortably winning the first one, recovered to defeat Medvedev in the third set and advance to the quarter finals in Rotterdam.

Medvedev, who also crashed out in his second game of the Australian Open, hoped to get back to his best in Rotterdam. However, following his second early exit, retirement rumours began to swirl - which he quickly shut down.

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen soon. I like tennis, I’m still winning a lot of money, so I’m gonna continue playing until I can do it. Then, if I drop out of top 100, then I don’t know… but this is probably not gonna happen. I’m pretty sure I can come back strong enough. The question is, when? Tomorrow? Next month? In 12 months? This, I don’t know.”

- Daniil Medvedev on retirement rumours, via X

Bellucci will play either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Tallon Griekspoor in the quarter finals.

Oilers Edge Out Blackhawks In Overtime Thriller

In a 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Edmonton Oilers have extended their winning streak to seven, with the last two wins coming in overtime.

The Oilers, who had won seventeen more games then the Blackhawks going into the game, took the lead through Viktor Arvidsson in the second period. Chicago, however, would make it into a game as Lukas Reichel scored an equalizer with six seconds left in the second period.

Edmonton would take a comfortable 3-1 lead in the third period, but two late goals from Chicago would once again equalize, making it 3-3 going into overtime.

But Zach Hyman would squash any chance of an upset as he scored the winner in overtime, thanks to a flawless pass from Conor McDavid, which took the Oilers winning streak to seven.

The Oilers will return to Canada to take on the Avalanche in their next game, while the Blackhawks remain in Chicago to play the Predators in their next outing.