The Carson Wentz trade is a risk for all parties involved, plus MLB cancels more games

Happy Thursday, all!

Let's get right to it.

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It's not such a good morning for...

CARSON WENTZ AND THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS...

Another day, another major quarterback trade: Carson Wentz is headed to the Washington Commanders (and yes, it's still weird to type that). Here are the full details of our second major QB trade in as many days:

Commanders receive: QB Carson Wentz, 2022 second-round pick (No. 47 overall)
Colts receive: 2022 second-round pick (No. 42 overall), 2022 third-round pick (No. 73 overall), conditional 2023 third-round pick

The trade comes just a day after Russell Wilson was traded to Denver and Aaron Rodgers decided to stay in Green Bay. Washington tried to trade for Wilson and presumably would have tried to do the same with Rodgers had he been available. After all, the Commanders began their quarterback search with 42 options and called every team about the position.

It's fair to say the one they ended up with was not their Plan A and likely not even their Plan B.

Wentz's surface-level stats from last year are not bad. He threw 27 touchdowns and tied his career low with seven interceptions. His 1.4% interception rate was third-lowest in the league behind Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins. But he also had the league's leading rusher, Jonathan Taylor to make his life easier, something he won't have in the nation's capital.
Wentz played extremely poorly in the final two games of the season -- losses to the Raiders and Jaguars. A win in either game would have sent the Colts to the playoffs and, in turn, perhaps given Wentz another year in Indianapolis. Instead, he's on his third team in three years.

The other part of this equation is that Washington owes Wentz $28 million in 2022 -- the only remaining guaranteed year in his contract. If the Commanders draft a quarterback and Wentz is simply a bridge quarterback, that's a high price for what you've deemed a short-term solution. If Washington doesn't draft a quarterback and Wentz doesn't play at a high level, it's another lost year for a team that has experienced plenty of them.

I suppose an ideal scenario would be similar to what the 49ers accomplished with Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021: A playoff run with an expensive, middling quarterback, and an exciting future starter (Trey Lance) behind him. But as we've seen recently, betting big on Wentz has backfired more often than not.

... AND ALSO NOT SUCH A GOOD MORNING FOR THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

For 15 games, the Colts trading for Wentz looked like a great move. After a 1-4 start, Indianapolis won 8 of 10 and looked like a team no one would want to face in the playoffs. Then they lost their last two games and missed the playoffs entirely, and now we're here. The player that cost a first- and third-round pick is gone after just one season.

The Colts are built to win now with arguably the best running back in the NFL, a strong offensive line and a stout defense. They had seven Pro Bowl selections last year, the most in the NFL. And they thought Wentz would be the guy to help them win now. Instead, they're looking for answers... again. Next season will be the sixth straight that the Colts have a new opening-day starter.

2017: Scott Tolzien
2018: Andrew Luck
2019: Jacoby Brissett
2020: Philip Rivers
2021: Carson Wentz
2022: ?

There are not many inspiring options to fill that question mark, though Indianapolis is expected to enter the Jimmy Garoppolo race. Still, the Colts earned just a C- from NFL reporter Bryan DeArdo for the Wentz deal.

DeArdo: "Where do they go from here? The Colts have no proven quarterbacks on their roster, and without a first-round pick, they won't be in the running to acquire one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. ... With nine picks in this year's draft, Indianapolis has the resources to put together a trade for Garoppolo... But given how many teams are in the market for a quarterback, the Colts may have to battle several other teams for the right to acquire the 30-year-old veteran."

Not so honorable mentions

The Lakers lost to the Rockets. Their overtime effort was a disaster.
Buddy Boeheim has been suspended one game for punching Florida State's Wyatt Wilkes in the stomach.
Wake Forest didn't do itself any favors ahead of Selection Sunday, losing to Boston College.

Good morning to everyone but especially to...

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO, JAYSON TATUM AND NIKOLA JOKIC

The end of the NBA regular season is just a month away, and some of the game's biggest stars are heating up.

Let's start with Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks' superstar scored 43 points against the Hawks to lead Milwaukee to its sixth straight win. Since the All-Star Break, Antetokounmpo is averaging:

31.1 points
13.6 rebounds
5.7 assists
1.7 steals
1.4 blocks

Not to be outdone, Jayson Tatum followed up his 54-point effort vs. the Nets on Sunday with 44 at the Hornets last night. He is putting the Celtics in a great position to contend for the title, writes our NBA scribe Brad Botkin:

Botkin: "Tatum has now sunk 14 of his last 24 3s. He's averaging 35 points a night over seven games since the All-Star break, and 41 points over four games in March. Yet, he's not forcing his offense. Making the right read has been an important and well-chronicled part of Tatum's evolution this season, particularly of late ... With Tatum playing like this, the Celtics are a contender to win the East and compete for a championship."

Finally, Nikola Jokic continued his outstanding play with 38 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists in a win over the Kings.

Honorable mentions

Colgate locked up its NCAA Tournament bid, beating Navy in the Patriot League final. You can keep up with all the conference tournaments here.
Virginia Tech's Darius Maddox hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat Clemson and keep the Hokies' NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

MLB cancels more games as lockout continues ⚾

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Last night, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of more games.

April 14 is now the earliest possible Opening Day.
That's two weeks after the originally scheduled date of March 31.

The owners and the players bargained for much of Tuesday and Wednesday and made headway on several economic matters. One major issue now is the international draft, which owners want and players don't.

Wednesday also represented MLB's latest "deadline" to play all 162 games this year, meaning a whole new can of worms has been opened, writes our MLB expert Mike Axisa:

Axisa: "The number of games played, how much players are paid for those games, and the schedule itself are all subject to bargaining. Manfred can not unilaterally implement a shortened season with prorated pay. MLB and the MLBPA will have to agree to those terms and that's another layer of complexity on top of an already complex negotiation. Bottom line, this just got a lot messier."

Sigh.

Real Madrid pulls off amazing comeback to beat PSG in Round of 16 ⚽

Leading 1-0 in the game -- and 2-0 on aggregate -- with 30 minutes left, PSG looked a sure thing to advance to advance past Real Madrid and into the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

A half-hour later, PSG was reeling and Real Madrid was celebrating.

Karim Benzema scored a second-half hat-trick amid a PSG meltdown, giving the Los Blancos a stunning 3-1 win and (a 3-2 aggregate score) to advance into the final eight.

Soccer expert Roger Gonzalez ranks it among the greatest comebacks in UCL history:

Gonzalez: "Sure, it wasn't via a crazy amount of goals, and not having the away goals rule anymore added to the intrigue and belief that Real were still in it. But even if there were away goals, Real still would have advanced. The Gianluigi Donnarumma mistake off the Benzema pressure turned the tide, and Real never looked back. With the added storylines of Lionel Messi facing his old rivals and Kylian Mbappe taking on what many believe will be his next team, Real did was seemed unthinkable with 30 minutes to go. Benzema is already a Real Madrid legend, but this was next level stuff from the Frenchman."

Elsewhere Manchester City eased into the quarterfinals, drawing Sporting CP 0-0 after a 5-0 win in the first leg. Real Madrid and Manchester City join Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the quarterfinal, with four other teams joining them next week.

What we're watching Thursday 📺

🏀 Indiana vs Michigan, 11:30 a.m. on Big Ten Network
🏀 Oklahoma vs No. 3 Baylor, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Nets at 76ers, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Iowa State vs No. 14 Texas Tech, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN 2
🏀 Warriors at Nuggets, 10 p.m. on TNT