It is looking more and more like Oklahoma City made a monumentally bad decision. They were able to get Tyson Chandler from New Orleans for a steal, and he would have added some talent and stability to a team that is playing better than their record. But then the team doctors for the Thunder pulled an unexpected move and rejected the trade because of a case of turf toe and an ankle injury even though neither problem seemed serious. Since Chandler returned to New Orleans and to action he has met or exceeded his season averages in points and rebounds in all five games he has played, and the team has won all five. Unless there is much more to this story than we are hearing this looks like a bad move for OKC.

The Red Wings had a very scary moment last night. Marian Hossa, their leader in goals scored, took a header into the boards after colliding with a defenseman. He was on the ice for far too long, then he got carted off the ice on a stretcher. Needless to say, it didn’t look good. The Red Wings are the most complete and dangerous team in the league, but Hossa would be missed sorely. Luckily, it appears that he is going to be just fine. After going to the hospital to get checked out he was on the team plane when it left town. He’s sore and will apparently miss some time, but it shouldn’t be long. We’ll get a sense tonight to see what impact his loss will have on the short time. I expect Detroit to still be fine against Colorado, though – the Avalanche are outclassed and will also be short handed because of the trade of Jordan Leopold today.

Interesting spring training spectacle yesterday – Derek Jeter on Team USA playing against his Yankees. Jeter had a pretty good game against them, too. Maybe he should consider playing against them full time. I’d be happy to see him anywhere else. That way, we wouldn’t have to hear as much about him.

I’m not sure that T.J. Houshmandzadeh made the right choice of teams. Leaving the Bengals was a no-brainer, but when it came down to choosing between Seattle and Minnesota I think he went the wrong way. Seattle has a new coach, but they still don’t seem to be going forward at a rapid pace. They play in a reasonably weak conference so they could make the playoffs, but it is very hard to see how they have moved far enough forward from last year to make any impact of they do make the playoffs. Minnesota has a less secure QB situation, but they are a better, deeper team and they play in a division that won’t be good. In short, I would bet on the Vikings to go further than the Seahawks. More significantly, Houshmandzadeh could have done more to instantly improve the Vikes than he will in Seattle.

I don’t like seeing what is going on with the Nuggets right now. Carmelo Anthony was suspended by the team for last night’s game at the Pistons. On Sunday night coach Karl tried to pullMelo from the game, but the star ignored the order and stayed in the game. I’m not sure that Denver is an elite team, but they have a good shot at winning their division and getting a good playoff seeding as a result. Needless to say, this could be disruptive. It will be interesting to watch if this blows over or escalates.