Breaking Down the NBA Trade Deadline Deals

The NBA trade deadline came and went at 3:00 PM Eastern Time and news of trades trickled in over the hour that followed. Due in large part to the uncertainty surrounding the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, it was one of the most active deadlines in recent memory. While the biggest trades involving Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams went down earlier in the week, several very good players were on the move today. Here’s a breakdown of all the deadline deals.

Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks

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Denver sent Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter to the Knicks.

Knicks sent Danillo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, 2014 first-round draft pick, two second-round picks and cash to Denver – The Knicks also sent Eddie Curry and Anthony Randolph to Minnesota.

Minnesota sent Corey Brewer to the Knicks.

The Knicks gave up a lot, but they came away with a superstar in the prime of his career. Melo puts them one step closer to being a championship contender. Now their eyes turn to the summer of 2012 when Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard become free agents. The Knicks also got the second-best player in the deal in Chauncey Billups, whose contract expires in time for the 2012 bonanza. Melo and Amar’e are both isolation players who need their shots, so it remains to be seen how well they’ll coexist, though it helps that they’re good friends off the court. Lack of size was a major concern for the Knicks before the trade and now they’re even smaller.

Denver didn’t get the deal they wanted. They were sold on the Nets package centered around Derrick Favors and multiple draft picks, but Melo forced their hand. That being said, they received a number of solid pieces in return. Felton had a breakout season this year and is underpaid for what he brings to the table. Gallinari’s one of the top long-range bombers in the league and his size creates favorable matchups at the small forward position. Chandler will be a restricted free agent this summer and Mozgov is a project who should develop into a solid backup center.

Minnesota gave up relatively nothing to acquire a talented player who a lot of teams are high on in Anthony Randolph.

Deron Williams to the Nets

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Jazz send Deron Williams to the Nets.

Nets send Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, two first-round picks and some cash. They also sent Troy Murphy’s expiring contract and a second-round pick for Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright.

Not a bad consolation prize for the Nets. Melo’s a bigger name, but there’s not much of a gap in their games. The Nets hope other stars will want to play with one of the best point guards in the league, though they’re gambling that they can convince D-Will to re-sign after next season. It was a chance they had to take considering they’re moving into a new arena in 2012.

Great job by the Jazz of getting ahead of this situation. They knew that Williams wasn’t going to re-sign next summer and avoided the Melodrama that Denver endured this season. Favors was the third pick in the draft last year and the 2011 pick they got from the Nets will be a lottery pick. Devin Harris isn’t too shabby either.

Celtics Trade Kendrick Perkins

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Celtics sent Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to Oklahoma City in return for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

This was the shocker of the trade deadline. Many people believe the Celtics would have won the championship last year if Perkins didn’t get hurt early in Game 6 of the finals, and Boston was waiting all season for him to come back from his knee injury. In making this trade the Celtics gave up their biggest advantage over Eastern Conference teams like the Heat and Knicks, which was size, and it could come back to haunt them in the playoffs against the bigger teams like Orlando, Chicago and the Lakers.

The Celtics also dealt valuable reserve Semih Erdin and Luke Harangody to the Cavs for a second-round pick. They do still have a number of big bodies up front, but they’re unreliable. The two O’Neals, Shaq and Jermaine are never healthy. Krstic will help. There’s already speculation that Rasheed could come out of retirement, though that’s unlikely, and the Celtics would certainly be interested if Golden State buys Troy Murphy out of his contract.

I suppose their thinking was that Perk will be a free agent and they either weren’t willing or able to meet his contract demands. Jeff Green is a very good ballplayer who was underutilized in Oklahoma City due to the presence of Durant and Westbrook. He’ll be a great backup to Pierce and Garnett.

The Thunder are the big winners of deadline day.They desperately needed some muscle inside and Perk is one of the best defensive big men in the game. They also acquired a solid backup in Nazr Mohammed from Charlotte for Morris Peterson and D.J. White.  If Perk can get fully healthy they may compete for a championship this year.

Gerald Wallace to Portland

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Charlotte sent Gerald Wallace to Portland for Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham and two first-round picks.

This is a nice addition for Portland. Wallace is a great athlete who can play both forward positions. It will be interesting to see how they use him, since they have Nicolas Batum at the three and LaMarcus Aldridge at the four. Wallace will likely come of the bench and coach McMillan can go with a smaller lineup at times, playing Batum, Wallace and Aldridge together.

Charlotte appears to be in cost cutting mode. They didn’t get a lot back for their former all-star other than the two draft picks and they also dumped Nazr Mohammed for Mo Pete’s expiring contract.

Rockets Deal Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier

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Rockets sent Aaron Brooks to Phoenix for Goran Dragic and a first-round pick. They also sent Shane Battier to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet and a first-round pick.

The Rockets have been trying to trade Yao’s expiring contract and acquire a star player for a year now and they’ve been unsuccessful on both fronts. So they decided to acquire more pieces in hopes of making a run at another star in the future. The team had grown tired of Brooks, who will be a free agent this summer and Battier is getting older. Dragic is a decent backup point guard who has been great at times, but is inconsistent. Not a bad idea to give Thabeet another chance in new situation.

Aaron Brooks brings some explosiveness to the Suns off the bench, though I don’t know that it was worth giving up a first round pick for a free agent to be.

It was a smart of the Grizzlies to reacquire Battier, especially since Rudy Gay is out for another month or so. He’s a respected veteran who can defend several positions. Reportedly, a deal to send O.J. Mayo to Indiana for Josh McRoberts and a first-round draft pick fell through at the last minute.

Hawks Swap Bibby for Hinrich

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Hawks sent Mike Bibby, Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans and first-round pick to Washington for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong.

The Hawks felt Bibby had lost a step defensively and he’s become purely a jump-shooter. Hinrich is a little more athletic and should do a better job of distributing the ball to the scorers on the team, but he’s not good enough to push the Hawks past any of the top four teams in the East.

Hinrich was expendable in Washington with John Wall at the point and they were happy to unload his contract, receiving a pick in the process.

Clippers Ship Baron Davis to Cleveland

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Clippers trade Baron Davis and a first-round pick to Cleveland for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.

Baron Davis’ enormous contract was considered to be untradable. L.A. was thrilled to unload that $28 million over the next two years and B-Diddy has to be the first player to be upset about being traded away from the Clippers. The Cavs were thinking long term and made the deal for the first-round draft pick. None of the rumored deals involving Antawn Jamison came to fruition.

Hornets Acquire Carl Landry

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Sacramento traded Carl Landry to New Orleans for Marcus Thornton and cash.

This is a great addition by the Hornets. Landry is one of the more underrated big men in the league. He’s a rugged player who will provide them with much needed rebounding and defense off the bench. For whatever reason, he never fit in well in Sacramento and the Kings made some cash by shipping him to New Orleans.

On an interesting note, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has made a valid objection to this trade. He argued that since the Hornets are now owned by the NBA, the additional $2 million they’re taking on in salary is essentially being covered by the other 29 owners, some of whose teams may have to compete against them in the playoffs.