10 Jan 11 NBA Trade Deadline Lives Up To Its Promise for a Change

Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesA week ago, if you weren't expecting a flurry of transactions to occur before this year's trade deadline, no one could really blame you.In years past, especially in recent memory, trade rumors fly back and forth for the weeks leading up to the deadline, only to see mid-level talents like Shawn Marion and Jermaine O'Neal be the best two players traded.Skeptics of the NBA trade deadline: This was the year to remember why you fell in love with the whole circus in the first place.As I'm writing this, it's about four hours after the trade Reebok Washington Redskins #98 ORAKPO Realtree camo Jersey
deadline has passed. There's at least one team in the league that I hardly recognize (Washington Wizards); two teams that appear to be landslide winners (Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers), and a number more (L.A. Clippers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings) that have positioned themselves to be major players in the upcoming mega-free agent class this summer.Half of the 30 teams in the league were involved in some sort of trade in the past week. The Wizards and Mavericks kicked the madness off on Saturday with a seven player swap including Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Josh Howard; the Blazers kept it going with the Clippers on Tuesday by sending Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake to L.A. for Marcus Camby, and all trade hell broke loose yesterday, as the clock inched closer to the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline.Rumors were abound of the Cavaliers acquiring All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire from the Suns, with officials saying they'd be surprised if it didn't happen on Tuesday afternoon, as the teams returned from the All-Star break. And fans of every franchise in the NBA realized that this trade deadline certainly didn't seem typical, as the Cavs would reportedly send back Zydrunas Ilgauskas' expiring contract and second-year forward J.J. Hickson in return for the starting center for the West's All-Star team . (Yes, that had to be italicized, to emphasize the imbalance of talent for the two sides).As I said, all hell broke loose on Wednesday, with news breaking Wednesday afternoon that the Wizards had completed their firesale by trading Antawn Jamison to the Cavs in a three-team deal that cemented the Cavs' spot as favorite in the East. Cleveland sent a whole bunch of expiring contracts, and their first round pick (which, in all likelihood, will be No. 29 or 30), for a two-time All-Star that fits their desire for a "stretch 4."By this point, there should have been alarms going off for every lottery team's fanbase:WARNING...Teams tanking left and right...ship your best player to a contender for cap space immediately or risk Reebok Pittsburgh Steelers 43 Troy Polamalu Realtree camo Jersey
losing your hold on a high draft pick.The Knicks, Rockets, and Kings pulled off the headline deal on Thursday , with Tracy McGrady going to the Knicks, Kevin Martin heading to the Rockets, and the Kings landing Carl Landry, Joey Dorsey, and Larry Hughes' $13 million expiring contract.When it was all said and done, 16 teams had completed transactions of some sort, either positioning themselves for the players or setting themselves up for invaluable cap relief.And that cuts to the real reason why this trade deadline featured so much action, while trade deadlines of years past faded in and out without much fanfare:Money, money, money.The NBA warned teams in the offseason that for only the second time since the salary cap was implemented in the 1983-84 season, it would be dropping next season. Teams hedging the luxury tax line will likely be millions over the cap for next season.For teams like the Wizards, that meant a slash-and-burn was in order ASAP (and if they waive Ilgauskas, they willl have succeeded getting under the cap). For teams like the Jazz, Clippers, Knicks, Bulls, and Kings, they started jockeying for free agency already; the Bulls traded to the two teams directly below them in the playoff race, as if to wave the white flag on the season before they even qualify for the playoffs.But when the clock tolled three on Thursday, it became clear that some of the transactions that occurred in the past week was one of the more seminal weeks in recent NBA history, as teams made the most profound now-or-later decision they've had to Reebok Green Bay Packers 21 Charles Woodson Realtree camo Jersey
make in years.I'm glad that unlike 2007, when ESPN's Bill Simmons said the NBA must stand for "No BallsAssociation" after the trade deadline, that teams made moves this year.Sure, it means that the current CBA is completely 'effed, as SI's Iam Thomsen pointed out in his analysis of the Jamison trade.And yes, the Bobcats did nearly just trade D.J. Augustin for T.J. Ford .But if nothing else, the deals in this past week gives new meaning to the NBA's slogan of "Where Anything Happens."