The whirlwind that has been the NBA trade market the last couple of weeks finally has died down with the passing of the trade deadline yesterday afternoon.
The name of the game this year was twofold: contenders, particularly in the Western Conference, were looking to trump their rivals' big-name acquisitions, while those teams looking ahead to the offseason coveted expiring contracts.
The biggest winner of the deadline was the Los Angeles Lakers. The acquisition of Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies earns L.A. the title of Western Conference favorite. The Lakers have gone 7-1 with Gasol in the lineup, averaging 112 points per game in that span, and when center Andrew Bynum returns from knee surgery, the Lakers should be even better.
General manager Mitch Kupchak should be lauded for turning his team from a candidate to be bounced in the first round of the playoffs into one of the top five championship contenders this season. As an added bonus, L.A.'s moves started a domino effect of questionable moves made by other Western Conference powers.
The Sacramento Kings gave up point guard Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks without getting much in return. Although he is clearly past his prime and has struggled with injuries this season, Bibby gives the Hawks their best point guard since Mookie Blaylock left the team in 1999.
While Bibby will never be confused with a true point guard in the likeness of a Steve Nash or Chris Paul, he will help shoulder the scoring load alongside Joe Johnson and should help propel his new team into the playoffs, as they currently sit ninth in the East. At the very least, the deal shows Hawks fans that the team, which has not made the playoffs since the lockout-shortened season of 1998-1999, is committed to winning.
The biggest puzzler may be the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, for all their last-minute scrambling, failed to make any impact moves. Getting Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from the Chicago Bulls and Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from the Seattle SuperSonics did little to help the Cavs' prospects or to quiet the grumblings of LeBron James, who has been vocal about his desire for an All-Star caliber player, especially at the point guard spot, to play alongside him.
Ferry missed a chance to get Jason Kidd from the New Jersey Nets and couldn't find a way to pry Bibby from the Kings, despite Sacramento's low asking price. No team was mentioned in more deals than the Cavs, and just before the deadline, Cleveland made what seems to be a lateral move that does little to improve the team.
The biggest name the Cavs took on is Wallace, who has dropped off substantially from his tenure as a Detroit Piston and brings his terrible contract to Ohio. Wallace is a lot like a player already on Cleveland's roster, Anderson Varejao, in that he makes a living by rebounding and playing defense while contributing little offensively.
Szczerbiak, in theory, would seem to help compensate for the scoring loss of injured guard Larry Hughes, but he is a streaky shooter who is not a good second offensive option. West is an immediate upgrade at point guard and is the only part of the trade that makes any sense. Overall, however, it seems like Ferry panicked and made the move just for the sake of shaking up his roster.
The Kings and Grizzlies were two of the biggest losers, and both made similarly puzzling decisions. The Grizzlies traded Gasol for little more than cap space and mediocre draft picks, with general manager Chris Wallace signaling to the rest of the league that he planned on rebuilding his team around Rudy Gay.
The logical move, then, would be to peddle a package deal of one of its surplus point guards and Mike Miller, a much-coveted player who did not seem to fit into the team's rebuilding plans. Logic be damned; the Grizzlies stood pat.
The Kings similarly got little for Bibby, and then tried to move Ron Artest with the suspect plan of building around Kevin Martin, a good player who seems destined to play second fiddle somewhere. The Kings instead kept Artest, who will now likely leave as a free agent in the offseason with Sacramento getting nothing in return.
And the jury is still out as to whether the acquisition of Kidd and Shaquille O'Neal will help or hurt their respective new teams, the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. Kidd has seen his turnovers rise while his shot has struggled, but he has the offensive skills to mesh well in Dallas. Shaq, meanwhile, seems only to be slowing down and has battled myriad injuries. If he can stay healthy, his motivation to prove doubters wrong alone may be enough to help Phoenix.
The trades in the last few weeks should be enough to have fans excited for the rest of the season. At the very least, it is a far cry from last year, when the biggest move of the deadline was Juan Dixon for Fred Jones.
