A Run-down of today's trades

Tweet Before getting into today's trades I would just like to mention that the referees absolutely blew it today in the Syracuse and UNCA game. The UNCA players deserved better, but were denied history by some horrific officiating. That is all I will say about that, but on to the NBA trades, in chronological order starting with...

Milwaukee trades Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson to the Warriors and receive Monta Ellis, Kwame Brown, and Ekpe Udoh.

The reaction everyone seemed to have with this trade was "huh?", and for the most part, I agree with it. This just seems like such an odd trade to make, especially mid-season. I guess Milwaukee feels that they are playing well enough without Bogut to roll the dice with Ellis. Can Ellis and Jennings co-exist? Will coach Scott Skiles and Ellis clash? These questions will only be answered once we actually see some games. As for the Warriors, They get to rebuild with a Bogut and Lee front-court, which is not terrible, but they are banking on Bogut being healthy for an extended period. Also, Mark Jackson preached defense first, and now he is getting some personnel to make it happen. It seems that the Warriors have decided not to go all out and make the playoffs, choosing instead to re-tool and reshape the team into one that fits Jackson's coaching style better.

Memphis trades Sam Young to the Sixers for the rights to Ricky Sanchez.

A quiet trade. The Sixers add a solid role-player in Young (he played some solid minutes in Memphis's playoff run last year) to help them in the playoffs, and Memphis stashes a potential future asset.

The Indiana Pacers acquire Leandro Barbosa from the Raptors for a 2nd round pick.


Another relatively quiet trade; the Raptors shed some money off their payroll and Indiana adds a proven energy/impact scorer to bring off the bench. I get the feeling that Toronto could have done better, but 2nd round picks are not as useless as they used to be. The Raptors needed to be smart and they were. The trade will free up more minutes for the Raptors young guards so the team can better evaluate them. As for the Pacers, they get a guy who can swing the momentum of a game, a valuable skill to have in the playoffs (see J.J. Barea last year).

The Warriors Acquire a future 2nd round pick from Atlanta for cash considerations.


Someone in the Atlanta front office apparently needed some quick cash.

The Lakers send Luke Walton, Jason Kapono, and their 1st round pick to the Cavaliers who in turn, send Ramon Sessions and Christian Eyenga back to the Lakers.


The Lakers massively improve their point-guard situation while sending away what basically amounts to dead-weight. The Cavaliers free up Irving to own the point-guard position while adding another pick to their stockpile. The Cavs are doing a really good job of re-building on the fly, and still have enough to make a potential playoff push this season. The Lakers get some much needed help for their 'big 3' as they look to contend once again.

The Portland Trailblazers send Gerald Wallace to the Nets for Okur's corpse, Shawne Williams, and a first round pick. The Blazers also fired head coach Nate Mcmillan and released Center Greg Oden.


So Portland essentially decided to blow things up completely (Sacramento: SIGN MCMILLAN! Do it now!). News has come out that the Blazers had completely tuned Mcmillan out and have essentially given up on the season. This seems so bizarre, especially since the Blazers had a really good first half of the year (as you will see in part 4 of our rankings) and were always a dark-horse pick in the playoffs. I guess that Jamal Crawford signing turned out to be terrible. The Nets meanwhile, declined a Pau for D-Will swap (more on this in a bit) and brought in Gerald Wallace to try and convince Williams to stay. My question is: why? The Lakers handed you an established big man who was locked up for several seasons, and you chose to roll the dice and hope Williams re-signs? With Dwight Howard officially (no, for real this time) staying in Orlando for one more full season, what will make Williams want to wait? He will just sign with Dallas, and the Nets will be left with Gerald Wallace (poor guy always seems to end up on horrible teams). Also, Portland has given up on Greg Oden, who should definitely go to Phoenix and their miracle training staff, its the logical move for him.

Portland Sends Marcus Camby to the Rockets for Hasheem Thabeet, a first round pick, and Johnny Flynn.


The Rockets add more size for the playoff push while Portland continues to stock picks and young players. There really is not much else to say here, except that the Rockets are now rolling with three centers. A Dalembert-Camby combo would be really tough to score on however, so the trade does make Houston a bit better.

Golden States receives a first round pick and Richard Jefferson, and sends Stephen Jackson to the Spurs.


So within 48 hours, Jackson went from Milwaukee back to Golden State, then back to San Antonio! Of course we all know that he helped the Spurs win a title in 03' and we can safely assume that Pop' will integrate him nicely into this line-up. San Antonio takes advantage of Jefferson's solid year and gets rid of a massive contract while not really hurting their title hopes. The Warriors now have a very solid potential starting five of: Curry, Thompson, RJ, Lee, and Bogut and are a more complete basketball team. They will be intriguing to watch this year and next.

Houston gets a first round pick and Derek Fisher from the Lakers, who receive Jordan Hill from the Rockets.


Thanks for your help Derek, now go play behind Dragic and Lowry, we even threw in a pick to sweeten the deal. Trades like this remind you just how much of a business the NBA is. Although, to the their credit, the Lakers got better with this trade. They now have a point guard and adequate back-ups for Bunym and Gasol. The only reason I can see Houston doing this trade is for the pick, and possibly to clear some playing time for Camby.

Three-way trade between the Clippers, Wizards, and Nuggets that sends Nene, Brian Cook and a draft pick to the Wizards, Nick Young  to the Clippers, and Javale McGee and Turiaf to the Nuggets.


The Wizards get rid of quite a character in McGee and provide John Wall with a legitimate NBA starter to prevent Wall from going insane over his rookie deal. The Nuggets feel that they get 80% of Nene's production at 1/8th the price, so kudos to them I guess. The Clippers come out shining here, turning nothing into a solid shooting guard in Nick Young. He solidifies the Clipper's starting five and makes the Clippers dangerous again, a great trade for them.

Draft day winners: Lakers, Clippers, Wizards, Stephen Jackson, Nick Young
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Draft day Losers: Portland, the Nets, Gerald Wallace, and the morons who reffed the Syracuse game.

Part four of our rundown (with the Blazers embarrassingly ranked in the top 13-if we redid the rankings now, they would be bottom 10 for sure) is coming soon. In the meantime enjoy March Madness and good luck with your brackets.