Tradeoffs

Now that we have seen teams in action for more than a week since the NBA trade deadline, it 's a good time to evaluate the trades. This, surprisingly, was an especially busy trade deadline in the NBA. All the talk for months leading into the deadline was about Carmelo Anthony and he did move. But there was many more players switching jerseys and zip codes. Some trades are over-hyped, while others are under-valued. I can see what the excitement is with Melo and the Knicks. The Knicks have been hurting big time for many years and Amare has finally bought them some legitimate hope. Now add a prolific scorer and a clutch player like Melo, it's a formidable 1-2 punch that almost guarantees them a playoff trip every year. But the problem is, they are both similar in what they bring to the table - lots of scoring with very little outside of that. They are both mediocre defenders and bad rebounders for their size. They have both been accused of being ball-stoppers. So I expect good things, but not great things from this combo. They still need a third piece and the best part of the deal for the Knicks might be Chauncey Billups. He is another clutch player, but he is also a good point guard who can manage the 2 scorers on the floor. He has already won them a game against the Heat and he may win them a playoff game or two down the road. With all that said, this Knicks team is incomplete and I am not sure if they will ever have the cap room to become complete.

The Russian Billionaire really scared the Knicks into trading for Melo while the Knicks thought they could wait for the off-season and just get Melo off the street as a free agent. Denver had no leverage in their negotiations with the Knicks and Mikhail Prokhorov gave them the leverage. Now, the Nuggets are not looking that bad with all the pieces they got back. It's not quite the elite roster without Melo, but it aint bad at all. The rich and creamies are running, gunning and even winning with the young and talented roster with better defenders and no "ball stoppers". Danilo Gallinari has a lot of potential with a Nowitzki-like game. Raymond Felton and Wilson Chandler are not bad either. Timofey Mozgov, the guy who almost held up the trade from the Knicks side because D'Antoni didn't want to give him up can actually make this trade one-sided if he develops as a player for the Nuggets. Speaking of D'Antoni, the Nugges roster looks like something he would love to coach even more than the Knicks roster he coaches right now. But Pokhorov made sure the Knicks lost a lot of talent in this trade and Pokh got Deron Williams fromt he Jazz in a shocker of a trade at the last minute. I don't know if Deron wants to stay there, but if he does, I would say Nets hit the jackpot. Give me Deron over Melo any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Deron is under-rated a little and a great point.

The Jazz didn't want to deal with any kind of Deron soap opera and hence dumped him in a surprising trade. But they now lose legitimacy in the West and have to deal with the under-achieveing Devin Harris. For all his talents, Devin is invisible these days and may be the change of scenery will do him good. I won't put money on it, but the Jazz are now in trouble without Sloan an now trading away their heir-apparent to John Stockton. They are slipping down the Western seeding and I am not complaining as a suns fan. The other shocker trade was the Clippers banishing Baron to Cleveland. Thats the last place Baron is going to play hard for, but they have him now - enjoy! The other big trade was Boston trading away big body Kendrick Perkins, the guy who could have won them their championship last year. They got good scoring talent in return in Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic, but thats not what they need for a championship run this year. They better hope Shaq and Jermaine are healthy now for the playoffs. Otherwise, they are going to be soft in the middle. Perkins hardens the Thunder's middle immediately - if he stays healthy and plays. Portland got Gerald Wallace, Atlanta got Krirk Heinrich and the New Orleans got Carl Landry from Sacramento in other good moves. The Suns joined the party by trading Dragic for Aaron Brooks. I have always liked Aaron Brooks and I am expecting good things from him. Some people are reading too much into this move with regards to Nash's future, but it's a decent move for the Suns.

I still can't believe Baron is in Cleveland. The Donald is cruel.