Good morning! A three-team trade became a five-team trade Wednesday, and when it settled the Clippers had a shooter they didn’t have to give up a player for — and had lost out on the young wing they’d been pursuing since July. Elsewhere, San Diego’s remarkable run of series without a loss finally ended in Queens, and Shohei Ohtani says he’s ready to get back on a mound. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏀 Strus in, Watson out. The Clippers acquired Max Strus via trade exception; Peyton Watson signed with Cleveland — Grant Mona in Los Angeles.
⚾ Streak over. The Padres lost 4-2 at Citi Field, ending seven straight series without a defeat — Eric Evelhoch at Citi Field.
⚾ Ohtani on the mound. After two homers in Denver, he says the next bullpen is close — John E. Gibson translates.
⚽ Ten men, three points. The Galaxy played down a man and beat San Jose 1-0 — Rob Jalon at Dignity Health Sports Park.
⚽ Colorado, again. LAFC was shut out at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for a second straight visit — Holdenn Graff in Commerce City.
⚽ Rough night in Portland. San Diego FC fell 3-1 to the Timbers — Angel Rodriguez at Providence Park.
🏀 Two in a row. Atlanta exposed the Aces’ defense in a second straight loss — Arion Armeniakos at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — WEDNESDAY
⚾ MLB: Mets 4, Padres 2 · Dodgers 6, Rockies 4 (10) · Astros 3, Angels 2
⚽ MLS: Galaxy 1, Earthquakes 0 · Timbers 3, San Diego FC 1 · Rapids 1, LAFC 0
🏀 A TRADE EXCEPTION, A SHOOTER, AND A MISS
The Clippers got Max Strus from Cleveland on Wednesday without sending out a single player, absorbing his $16.6 million expiring contract into the $17 million trade exception left from the John Collins deal. That’s clean business. The other half of the transaction is less comfortable.
Peyton Watson — 23 years old, coming off a career year in Denver at 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 41.1 percent from three across 54 games — went to the Cavaliers on a four-year, $88 million deal. The Clippers had been among the teams most connected to him all offseason, and he is exactly the profile they need: young, defends, shoots. Cleveland offered a contract and a role Los Angeles couldn’t match while sorting out its own roster.
What they got instead is a 30-year-old who shot 40.2 percent from deep in an injury-shortened 12-game regular season and then mattered in Cleveland’s run to the Eastern Conference finals — 24 points in the first round against Toronto, 6-for-8 from three in a closeout win over Detroit. Useful next to Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram for a team that went 42-40 and lost in the play-in. The complication is fit: Bennedict Mathurin remains a restricted free agent with Chicago, New Orleans and Milwaukee circling a sign-and-trade, and if he returns the roster could reach 18. Tyronn Lue would then be dividing minutes among Garland, Beal, Strus, Dunn, Dick, Christie and Sanders. The front office has work to do before camp.
GO DEEPER
› Grant Mona: Clippers land Max Strus, miss out on Peyton Watson in five-team deal (The Sporting Tribune)
› Grant Mona: New report claims NBA has no evidence Ballmer funneled money to Leonard (The Sporting Tribune)
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⚾ “I WANT TO COME BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE”
Ohtani’s bat has never been the question. He hit two more homers in Denver on Monday and has now homered in a 21-game stretch of success at Coors Field that he says is largely mental: “The fact that I hit well here gives me confidence and I can relax mentally when I go up to hit.”
The arm is the story worth tracking. Asked about his most recent bullpen session, Ohtani told reporters he came through it fine and is close to the next one. “I was good the day after and I’m going to see how it is tomorrow. If it’s OK, then I want to throw another bullpen, so we’re taking things one step at a time.” Asked whether the worst of the ramp-up is behind him: “Yes, that’s the reason we’re progressing slowly through this. That’s the hope, and I want to come back as soon as possible, of course.” For a Dodgers rotation that has spent August auditioning arms, a healthy Ohtani on a mound in September changes the shape of October.
GO DEEPER
› John E. Gibson: Straight Talk — Ohtani takes big swings with 2 HRs, inches closer to mound (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ SEVEN SERIES, AND THEN ONE THEY COULDN’T WIN
San Diego had not lost a series in seven tries. That ended Wednesday, 4-2 at Citi Field, and the way it ended is the part worth noting: Michael King made his 13th start allowing four or fewer hits and took a hard-luck loss anyway. He needed 20 pitches for the first two innings and 31 through three, then gave up a full-count walk to Bo Bichette in the fourth and a Carson Benge two-run homer that cleared the left-field line by 356 feet. King retired seven straight after that and finished 6⅔ innings, four hits, two runs — and fell to 8-9.
Fernando Tatis Jr. kept doing Tatis things, doubling home the only run off the base of the wall and then throwing out Francisco Alvarez at the plate to end the seventh. But after converting 4-of-9 with runners in scoring position in the first two games, San Diego went 2-for-11 in the finale and stranded seven. An error at short in the eighth let in a run and the bullpen gave up two. Gavin Sheets’ pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth brought the tying run up before Austin Hays grounded into a game-ending double play. The Padres (68-60) took the road trip 3-3 and still led Arizona by two games for the final NL Wild Card spot entering Wednesday. Six at home now — Minnesota Friday, Pittsburgh Monday.
GO DEEPER
› Eric Evelhoch: Padres can’t come up with support for King again, drop series finale at Mets (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ KLASSEN IS THE REASON TO WATCH IN ANAHEIM
The Angels sold at the deadline and got a rebuild. What they also got, apparently, is a starter. George Klassen — never a top-100 prospect, all stuff and shaky command — threw seven shutout innings on one hit with seven strikeouts Tuesday in Houston, the best start of his career, in a 3-1 win. His slider drew 12 whiffs on 20 swings. His fastball sat 96.7 and touched 99.2. Since rejoining the rotation this month he has a 1.59 ERA across three starts.
Pair that with Walbert Ureña’s 2.67 ERA — second-lowest among rookies with 100-plus innings — and Anaheim suddenly has two young arms worth building around. The series finale in Houston is tonight before the club continues on to Texas.
GO DEEPER
› Jack Janes: Klassen deals, two-out rallies lead Angels to win in Houston (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — THURSDAY, AUGUST 20
🏈 NFL Preseason: Raiders at Texans — NRG Stadium — 5:00 p.m. — ESPN
⚾ MLB: Angels at Astros — Daikin Park — 5:10 p.m. — ABTV
🏀 WNBA: Sun at Aces — Michelob ULTRA Arena — 7:00 p.m. — ESPN+
🏈 NFL Preseason: 49ers at Chargers — SoFi Stadium — 7:00 p.m. — NFL Network
🏀 WNBA: Dream at Sparks — Crypto.com Arena — 7:10 p.m. — Prime Video
Coming up: Both Southern California NFL teams and the Raiders are in preseason action, the Aces try to snap a two-game skid at home, and the Padres open a six-game homestand Friday against Minnesota.
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
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🏀 Sun at Aces — Michelob ULTRA Arena — $11
🏀 Dream at Sparks — Crypto.com Arena — $10
🏈 49ers at Chargers — SoFi Stadium — $32
🌴 TST TRIVIA
The Clippers acquired Max Strus without trading away a player. What mechanism let them absorb his $16.6 million contract?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
Today’s episode breaks down what Max Strus does and doesn’t solve for the Clippers, why missing on Peyton Watson stings more, what Ohtani’s bullpen timeline means for the Dodgers’ October, and a Padres streak that finally ran out in Queens. Hear it on the radio across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii via Westwood One Sports, The Bet Las Vegas, Hawaii Sports Radio Network and KIRN in Los Angeles.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: The $17 million trade exception left over from the John Collins deal.
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