NBA Trading Post

One of my favorite times of the year..the NBA trading deadline..its like basketball christmas..new toys for alot of teams..some good some..not lol..heres how it breaks down.

From earlier in the week:

Mavs get Caron Butler/Brendan Haywood/Deshawn Stevenson
Wizards get Drew Gooden/Josh Howard

The Mavs get the better part of the deal because they get 2 starters that are both weaker parts of Dallas' rotation(its rare you get what you need these days) but yeah I think the most important player in the deal was Haywood..if the Mavs have any shot at beating LA they need frontcourt depth.They had Gooden playing the center spot behind Dampier and while that was alright..it was just that..alright..now they have a legit player who is better than Dampier and young which is rare to find in the center spot.Great move.

The Wizards are salary dumping..well sort of here..Howard isn't really expiring(team option) but he's still a pretty good talent when healthy/not moody and Gooden was later tossed into another trade(read on)

Blazers get Marcus Camby
Clippers get Steve Blake/Travis Outlaw

This is one of the most short term deals you'll ever see..all 3 players are capable of playing while all 3 are also expiring deals at the end of the year.This is how it shakes out.Portland was killed with injuries this year but hit the worst at center with Oden and Pryzbilla out for the year..and while Juwan Howard was filling in as best as he can..if you want to make the playoffs,you need better..bam..Camby is better..2nd in the league in rebounds and will block a shot like no one's business..great short term fix..Clippers it gets a little dicier.They could go either route of getting a young emerging wing player(Outlaw) and a very solid if/when Baron gets hurt(Blake) but if not...more cap space there..it works out both ways I guess.

Cavs get Sebastian Telfair/Antawn Jamison
Wizards get Z.Ilgauskas/Brian Skinner/Al Thornton
Clippers get Drew Gooden

The Cavs clearly get the best part of the deal here in every way.Jamison is the best player in the deal and actually fits better with the Cavs than Amare did(in my opinion) He plays better defense(by default) , a better rebounder,doesn't clog the middle(like Amare would;not his fault) and there was never a personality conflict ever attached with Jamison(unlike Amare).You could argue that Cleveland was the favorite last week before all this happened but now they get a 20-10 player for basically nothing.And here's a larger trend that these days..there is a likely chance that the Wizards will be buying out Ilgauskas so he could go back to the Cavs in 30 days.Yeah...not fair lol.And Telfair,while hyped coming out of high school massively,he can be a small asset in terms of playing backup point guard.

The Wizards(again)are dumping salary left and right..they realized that this current team wasn't getting anything done(albeit a few years late but yeah).So they ship out their high-priced guys for scraps..not much more to add.

The Clippers are really trying to get something done for the future(read that one again...and again...and again...lol) They are clearing some space for this summer and are trying to make a play for someone big.There are rumblings that Gooden could be bought out and could go back to Dallas.

Celtics get Nate Robinson/Marcus Landry
NY gets Eddie House/JR Giddens/Bill Walker

This benefits more so Nate and the Celtics than the Knicks but the relationship between Nate and D'Antoni wasn't really working out. He has an expiring deal but apparently it wasn't fast enough(lol) so you ship him to a team he wants to go to(he has a no-trade clause;that he waived for this one) Eddie House has a short deal too and D'Antoni likes him, but its more money on this one..theres also a chance of House being bought out and going back to the Celtics(sense a reoccurring theme?)

NY gets McGrady/Sergio Rodriguez
Kings get Larry Hughes/Carl Landry/Joey Dorsey
Rockets get Kevin Martin/Jordan Hill/Jared Jeffries/Kenny Thomas/Hilton Armstrong

That was messy..okay..there isn't much actual talent here..I'd say that NY isn't focus on talent,more money..who knows if Tracy McGrady can even play at all but his contract is a great piece to have go away at the end of the season.D'Antoni loved Sergio so that could be nice for the remainder of the year.
The Kings make away with a decent off guard in Larry Hughes and a legit low post guy in Carl Landry..they have a bit of a logjam up front but I'm sure someone like Jon Brockman will be buried somehow in all this but they have that much young talent there.I'm a little surprised that they gave the Evans/Martin experiment about a month or so..they werent the reason they were tanking.
The Rockets make out very nice again with Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries...Jeffries is a great role guy who can do everything a little bit well..defend 4 positions..rebound..pass..think of his new teammate Shane Battier but less of a jumpshot and more height. Hill is a longer termed project at this point but he's shown flashes of rebounding ability so that could prove useful down the road. Oh they also make out with an easy "how did that guy get 20+ points tonight off 9 shot attempts" in Kevin Martin..that upgrades the guard position for them tremendously.With Houston I'm thinking in terms of when Yao gets back and I think that Martin is a great fit with him. Now the real question is how reliable is Yao in terms of being healthy..don't have to answer that one until next year.

Bulls get Hakim Warrick/Joe Alexander
Bucks get John Salmons

The Bucks needed to get help at the shooting guard position with Michael Redd out for the year again with a knee injury.Delfino and Stackhouse are alright but you'd rather have the combination of Salmons and Delfino at the off guard spot. I don't think much of Salmons but he is a long wing who can play defense and hit a few jumpers.Milwaukee needs someone who can do that.

The Bulls have an unusual logjam at the 4 now with Ty Thomas/Taj Gibson and now Warrick coming in.Taj has taken the starting spot away from Ty and I'm sure Warrick can do whatever Ty can..he may be the next guy out.

(Literally right after that this happened)

Bobcats get Ty Thomas
Bulls get Flip Murray/Acie Law

I guess I was right..I would think they could've gotten a better talent deal but its a nice salary deal.Flip is a guy who could score off the bench if given the chance and the Bobcats get something for nothing..Any one with any sort of personality I think that they will clash with coach Larry Brown and this is no different..Stephen Jackson seems to be doing fine but we'll see how that works out for them.I would suppose that he would back Diaw at the 4 and be a 5 on a small lineup?....or maybe just provide energy off the bench in generally.

Jazz get 2011 1st rd pick
Grizzlies get Ronnie Brewer

Its a little hard to quantify this trade for Utah just because they were playing so well up until this point..are a top 3 seed in the West and have a lack of depth at the shooting guard spot..who gets these minutes now?..CJ Miles?..Kyle Korver?..Wesley Matthews?...uh I guess but he's better than all of those guys..maybe another salary cutting deal here.
The Grizzlies get another young athletic swingman to get running.He'll back up OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay and provide much what they do.Solid defense and slashing for points.Good pick up for them.