It’s no longer a matter of if Chris Paul will leave the New Orleans Hornets. The only mystery left is where NO will trade the point guard that’s made it clear he wants out of The Big Easy. The New York Knicks were reportedly atop of Chris Paul’s wish list, a move that he and Amar’e Stoudemire recently discussed, but the latest report has the Orlando Magic as as Paul’s top choice.

From ESPN:

While the Knicks are still high on Paul’s list, he believes the Magic, with All-Star center Dwight Howard, would be a better fit. Paul also realizes Orlando has much more to offer New Orleans in a trade and therefore believes it is a more realistic destination than New York, according to the sources.

Take a look at the Just bet review before deciding on where to play this season.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports says Chris Paul’s trade demand/wish list is a bad sign of LeBron James and his crew rubbing off on the point guard. I don’t see it that way. The Hornets have gone backwards since their 2008 Western Conference Semifinal loss to the San Antonio Spurs. CP3 is watching his team get worse as Kobe wins rings and his boys move to better situations. The Hornets aren’t winning a championship anytime soon due to financial problems and the super-teams. Their best option is to move Paul now for a good package of players that also provide salary relief.

Roy Oswalt, finally exhausted by the Houston Astros losing, has formally asked the team to trade him. Oswalt is 2-6 this season with a 2.66 ERA. He’s allowed 18 earned runs in his nine starts this season but the Astros still find themselves at the bottom of the National League standings. If Oswalt pitched like that for a team like Tampa Bay or Philadelphia he’d be in the Cy Young discussion. Right now he’s hoping his name comes up in trade talks. Houston Astros GM Ed Wade doesn’t sound like he’s in a hurry to accommodate Oswalt.

“Roy’s contract has a no-trade clause, not a trade-me clause,” Wade said. “There is no rule that allows a player in his contract status to demand a trade. So demand, request, hold your breath until you turn blue, it’s all the same. It’s acknowledged and noted.”

Oswalt changing teams will shift the power of balance and change the odds to win the World Series. The Dodgers are 20-1 to win the series, but bringing in Oswalt would have to chop those odds in half. The Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays are 11/2 and 9/2 respectively to win the series. Either of them land Oswalt and they become the clear cut favorite.

In baseball whip (walks+hits/innings pitched) is a key stat. Oswalt’s whip is currently 1.06. He’s damn near allowing less than one base runner per inning. Not much more to ask of Roy. The problem is the offense that’s only scored 18 runs (the same amount Roy’s allowed) in his nine starts.

Oswalt (2-6) asks Astros for trade [ESPN]

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports the Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to trade quarterback Donovan McNabb to an NFC East division rival in the Washington Redskins. The Eagles get the Redskins’ 2nd-round pick in the 2010 draft (37th overall) and either a 3rd or 4th round pick in the 2011 draft.

Jason Campbell has to sit down Washington. Kevin Kolb has to step up in Philly. And somewhere, Michael Vick is rubbing his hands together with an evil grin on his face and saying “one down, one to go.” Donovan now has two times a year to rub the move in the face of the Eagles front office and fans.. Of course, he could prove they made the right decision.

Sources: McNabb headed to Washington [ESPN]

The rumor about the Phoenix Suns trading Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace is now a reality. The Big Shaqulier is packing his bags once again, and will team with LeBron James to hopefully get the king his first ring like O’Neal did for Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

From ESPN.com:

The deal has been agreed to in principle and is expected to be finalized Thursday, according to sources.

Cleveland will send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for the future Hall of Famer. Sources said the Suns will also receive the 46th pick in Thursday’s NBA draft and $500,000.

So where does the move leave us? LeBron has a big that can battle Dwight Howard, but Shaq will turn 38 this season and seems to always be in foul trouble. Cleveland’s gonna be tougher but they still need a wingman (somebody like Shawn Marion) to run with LeBron. It’s gonna take more than LeBron and Shaq to get past Boston, Orlando, and the Western champion.

The Dallas Cowboys made the only significant trade deadline move by acquiring wide receiver Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions for first, third, and sixth round picks in the 2009 draft. The trade wasn’t completely one-sided.. The Lions threw in a seventh round draft pick.

Williams is a good player, but I don’t think there’s a receiver in the league worth a first, third, and sixth round pick. Former Cowboy and current member of the NFL Network Deion Sanders didn’t like the trade for numerous reasons.

From NFL.com:

“Don’t like it one bit,” Sanders said. “First of all, it raises your eyebrows when a franchise gives up their best player, their best receiver. There’s a problem there. What’s the problem? I don’t understand. I’ve done my homework, checked on Roy. I don’t think Roy’s the hardest worker inside that Detroit Lion locker room that’s coming over here. Now, is he ready to play second fiddle? Because T.O. is the man in Dallas. Is he ready to do that? Is he losing speed? Can he get deep? What do they need?

“You give up a 1, a 3 and a 6 for Roy Williams when there’s a guy, Chad Johnson, who’s begging to get out of Cincinnati. I’m sure Cincinnati could accept a 1, 3 and 6….

“I smell panic, and there’s no need to panic at this time. Because this is still a good team, but I feel like Jason Garrett may have gone to Jerry Jones [and said], ‘You know what? We need another receiver.’ Tony Romo: ‘You know what? We need another receiver.’ Instead of understanding, well, Jason, they might have caught up to your offense from last year. Tony, get rid of the ball every once in a while. Let’s tell the truth to these guys. Let’s quit pacifying them.”

Deion blew up Roy Williams, Tony Romo, and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett on his way to saying he doesn’t like the deal. I agree with Primetime when he calls it a panic move. The Cowboys have enough serviceable wide receivers plus Jason Witten for the passing game to be fine. All Roy Williams adds to the team is another guy for Terrell Owens to be jealous of.

Manny Ramirez was shipped from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three team deal that saw Jason Bay land in Beantown. Man-Ram finally got the trade he was seeking, and can be seen is this video leaving Fenway Park for the last time. Manny’s bat will help the Dodgers offense tremendously, but the clubhouse could be a disaster with Jeff Kent and Manny Ramirez sharing space.

Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Los Angeles Dodgers, video

Props to Big League Stew for this picture of Manny Ramirez and his thoughts on being traded. You gotta give it to Manny, that’s funny. Too bad the Green Bay Packers are reportedly offering Brett Favre $20 million to stay retired because I can already picture Manny Ramirez doing the Lambeau leap.

The Major League Baseball trade deadline is 4 p.m. ET, and my money says the deadline will come and go without Manny Ramirez changing teams.. Even if Manny is trying to talk his way out of Boston.

“The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me. During my years here, I’ve seen how they [the Red Sox] have mistreated other great players when they didn’t want them to try to turn the fans against them.

“The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy. I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don’t deserve me. I’m not talking about money. Mental peace has no price, and I don’t have peace here.”

That’s some solid “get me the hell outta here” shit talking, but will it do Manny any good? If Ramirez gets traded his on the field situation won’t be better than the one he’s in now. Mental peace is important, and if Manny gets traded he’ll probably be able to start resting his mind at the end of September.

Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers, picture

Ron Artest is on an emailing rampage since installing himself as his own agent. First, Ron sent messages back and forth with Marc Stein of Espn over the weekend. Artest said there’s no love between him and the team, the Maloofs say it’s all good.

If the Kings are looking to move Artest they can scratch the Denver Nuggets from the list of trade partners. Even though Ron was rumored to be headed to the Rocky Mountains at February’s trade deadline he has no interest in playing for the Nuggets now.

Artest exchanged a series of emails with the Rocky Mountain News explaining his stance.

“I cannot play in Denver because they question my drive to finish my career off strong and not embarrass my family,”

“That’s not even an option to be a Nugget,” he wrote. “They let me know how they felt about me already.”

Ron is trying to say or do whatever he can that gets him closer to the Los Angeles Lakers. He would’ve had leverage if he had opted out of his deal. As it is now, Ron Artest is gonna end up on the team that offers the Sacramento Kings the most in return.

Ron Artest, Sacramento Kings, trade talk, Denver Nuggets

I thought the Shaquille O’Neal as a jockey commercial during the Super Bowl was one of the better commercials.. Based on the visual of big ass Shaq riding a horse.. I like to think of Shaq being a jockey as a metaphor. The horse actually represents Dwyane Wade or Steve Nash.. And the finish line represents the NBA championship.. Meaning, the only way Shaq gets the prize is on the back of somebody else.

Check out how the conversation that Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa will be having whenever Shaq puts on his new Suns uniform:

Tags: Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, Leandro Barbosa, NBA, youtube, commercials, utube

Talk about coming out of nowhere. The Los Angeles Lakers were able to acquire Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown’s expiring contract, rookie point guard Javaris Crittenton, and first round draft picks in 2008 and 2010. With a healthy lineup consisting of Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol, the Los Angeles Lakers are a really, really legit Western Conference finals team.

Gasol traded to Lakers. Courtesy of the Memphis CommercialAppeal.com

Tags: Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, Kwame Brown