2/18/10

February 18th 2010- the day the history of the National Basketball Association had forever changed.
The Portland Trailblazers acquire C Marcus Camby; the Los Angeles Clippers acquire G Steve Blake and F Travis Outlaw. This transaction put both teams in a good spot for their needs. The Blazers have been looking to trade Blake ever since Jerryd Bayless emerged into the guard he failed to prove he was during his rookie season. It was relatively easy for the Blazers to nab Camby at the deadline. His inside presence was desperately needed after Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla suffered season ending injuries. Blake gives the Clippers a solid veteran who makes smart decisions when he has the basketball. Outlaw gives the Clips much needed versatility and athleticism as well as a high energy player coming off the bench.
The Dallas Mavericks acquire F Caron Butler, G DeShawn Stevenson, and C Brendan Haywood; The Washington Wizards acquire F Josh Howard, F James Singleton, G Quinton Ross, and F Drew Gooden. For the Wizards the move was nearly meant to mean that the Wiz are seeking to recover now rather than rebuild from what may seems like "a series of unfortunate events". With Howard's arrival in the nation's capital he is now the team's number one scoring option and hopefully he can flourished in Flip Saunder's offense, which Caron Butler was lost in. The Mavs however got the better end of the stick by acquiring the NBA's best all-around player behind Lebron James in Caron Butler. Who, now playing alongside Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki, is free to create offense with and off the ball. While Haywood is not a prolific NBA center, he is however a very efficient one, who makes little mistakes and has improved his rebounding over the past season. He along with Butler can make a nice contribution to Dallas and may be able to push Denver into the third seed in the Western Conference.
The Cleveland Cavaliers acquire F Antawn Jamison and G Sebastian Telfair; The Los Angeles Clippers acquire F Drew Gooden; The Washington Wizards acquire F Al Thornton, C Zydrunas Ilgaskaus, and Cleveland's 1st round draft pick. This deal almost met most team's goals. As the Clippers looked to ship Telfair and Thornton out of town because each fell out of the team's favor due to their lack of productivity. By acquiring Gooden , whose contract comes off the books after this season, they are now in position to sign a marquee free agent this upcoming summer. The Wizards, however, did not have the same goals as the Clippers even with their season crumbling right before their eyes. They looked to blow their team up instead of getting value from them. With Arenas now looking at a suspended season and time behind bars, it's time for Washington to move on from the Arenas era and give their core an entire new look. Even if that means moving their most consistent player in Antawn Jamison. Thornton can now operate on the wing in Washington adding his toughness and ability to attack the basket. But the real winners of the trade are the Cavs. Who will resign long time center, Zydrunas Ilgaskaus after the Wizards buyout his contract and release him. Telfair, may now better than ever finally get his chance to blossom because of the fact that he can relax on offense and not fully focus all of his offensive duties on creating for his teammates. He will now be able to attack defenders off the dribble, as he has a great chance to securely steal Daniel Gibson's spot and maybe even some of Delonte West's minutes in the rotation. Plus now adding Jamison to the roster means the Cavs finally have their final piece to potentially win a championship in June. Jamison can not only provide scoring, rebounding ability and veteran leadership but versatility as well. He and Lebron James can take advantage of smaller lineups and bigger lineups with their abilities to match almost any and every shooting guard, small forward and power forwards in the Eastern Conference. Including Rashard Lewis and the Orlando Magic, who the Cavs were unable to defend last year in the playoffs.
The Boston Celtics acquire G Nate Robinson; the New York Knicks acquire G Eddie House, G JR Giddens, and F Bill Walker. Obviously with Boston adding Robinson into their backcourt rotation they are providing much needed energy and scoring ability. He can take loads of pressure off of Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen and can even finish games. The only question is how long will it take for him to adjust and is he a liability on the defensive end? The Knicks acquire not only more toughness but much needed veteran leadership out of Eddie House who can mentor players like Wilson Chandler, Danillo Gallinari, and Toney Douglas. House will fit well playing D'Antoni again and has a great opportunity to earn minutes playing behind Chris Duhon for the remainder of the season.
The Houston Rockets acquire G Kevin Martin, F Jared Jeffries, F Jordan Hill, the rights to swap 1st round draft picks with the New York Knicks in 2011, and the New York Knicks 2012 1st round draft pick; The Sacramento Kings acquire G Larry Hughes, F Carl Landry, and F Joey Dorsey; the New York Knicks acquire G Tracy McGrady and G Sergio Rodriguez. This trade is significant to the New York Knicks era of error. Due to the fact the Knicks always manage to screw up. The blockbuster deals they make are based upon potential and chance. Such as this one. With the potential of the Knicks finishing the season off strong so they wouldn't hurt as much with this year's 1st round draft choice going to the Utah Jazz. The Knicks also are hopeful that Jordan Hill fails to acheive his potential in Houston where he will team again with former Arizona Wildcat, Chase Budinger. They are also hopeful that this summer they can sign two big name free agents like the likes of Lebron James, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade where they will be in position to compete for an NBA championship. The Kings on the other side are looking in another direction. With the new acquisition of Larry Hughes' expiring contract this off season they could sign a free agent who could compliment their new franchise player in Tyreke Evans well. Now with the addition of Carl Landry the Kings get a player who can score in the post. A void that needed to be filled. Landry is best at coming off the bench with high energy and terrific explosiveness. He can score in loads but lacks the the rebounding abilities and defensive skills his position requires. Houston however got the best of the deal. Kevin Martin fits the needs the Rockets lacked. He is a terrific athlete and a very creatively aggressive scorer. He would strive in Rick Adelman's offense, where he played under him in Sacramento several years ago. He makes smart decisions and can play well in a starting lineup featuring Aaron Brooks, Trevor Ariza, Luis Scola, and Chuck Hayes. Where he becomes the score to scorer and can take over late in games where he will explode for 40. With Jordan Hill the Rockets add a young athletic forward who many have compared to Chris Bosh coming out of college. He gives the Rockets better height and can create his own shot against less athletic players.
A lot of the teams in the NBA who were active at the deadline got what they wanted. The biggest winners were the Cavs and the Rockets., as both teams gave up little and gained more than they could ask for (not really but yeah). Depending upon how the rest of the season plays out will prove exactly how significant this day was and what it means to the history of the most anticipated summer of sports ever and what impact it will create to the rest of everyone else. The losers will continue to lose while most winners will begin to lose. Because there is only one winner. And that's where his thrown is.