The On Deck Circle

This turned out to be a pretty good trade deadline, by the end of it. While it was a very boring day up until about 2, the 2-4PM time frame gave me lots to write about and everyone lots to think about. The deadline was highlighted by a buzzer-beating 3-team, 11-player deal that made the Cavaliers significantly better moving forward. There were a few smaller trades to accompany it. In case you missed anything, there is the Deadline Timeline after the jump, as well as all of my analysis even further down the page (with links to in-detail blogs on the biggest trades). If you just want to know who went where without hearing about how it effects each team, here is the quick list:

-Cleveland has acquired Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and a Bulls’ 2nd round pick; Chicago has acquired Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown; Seattle has acquired Ira Newble, Adrian Griffin, and Donyell Marshall, all in a monster 3-team, 11-player deal made right at the deadline.

-The Toronto Raptors have acquired Primoz Brezec from the Detroit Pistons for Juan Dixon.

-The Denver Nuggets have acquired Taurean Green from the Portland Trail Blazers for Von Wafer.

-The Houston Rockets have acquired Gerald Green from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round draft pick.

-The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have acquired guard/forward Bonzi Wells, guard Mike James, and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard Adam Haluska, guard Bobby Jackson, forward Marcus Vinicius and a 2008 second round pick. As part of the three-team deal, the Memphis Grizzlies will receive Vinicius, the rights to Malick Badiane and cash considerations in exchange for the rights to Sergei Lishouk.

-And, last night: San Antonio acquires Kurt Thomas from Seattle for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, and a 2009 1st round pick.

Welcome to The On Deck Circle’s all-day coverage of the NBA Trade Deadline. The deadline is Thursday, February 21, at 3PM EST. Check back to the site and this post all day for updates and opinions on trades.

I will update the site in as close to real time as I can, immediately posting trades that become official and posting my opinions on them shortly after. To review what has gone down so far and to give you a feel for how things will go down on Deadline Day, here is a look at what has happened on the trade market so far in 2008.

Official Deadline Trades
February 21 - Trade Deadline
5:20 - Alright, it looks like everything is done, no little ones filtering in late. We got a blockbuster after all!
4:30 - ESPN.com is finally confirming the huge three way deal. Marc Stein gave these details: Cleveland gets Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and a Bulls’ 2nd round pick; Chicago gets Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown; Seattle gets Ira Newble, Adrian Griffin, and Donyell Marshall. I’ll get working on my thoughts immediately, but very quickly I think Cleveland got a good haul here (despite Wallace not really fitting with Ilgauskas), Chicago got their inside scoring but had to take on Hughes’ deal (bad bad bad), and Seattle had some good (unloading Wally, getting two expiring deals) and some bad (taking back Marshall, not getting a pick).
4:07 - According to the Akron-Beacon Journal, the three teams involved here have been given an extension by the league office to fine tune the deal, which the paper is also reporting will not include Chris Duhon.
4 - The Philadelphia Inquirer is now reporting the huge 3-team deal as well, so it looks pretty official (though I still can’t find confirmation from Yahoo or ESPN). The Inquirer is reporting a slightly different deal, though: The Cavaliers receive Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West. The Bulls receive Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. The Sonics receive Ira Newble, Donyell Marshal and Chicago’s Adrian Griffin. The only real change is that this deal is now much worse for the Sonics, substituting Marshall for Simmons (an extra year at more money) and replacing a good young PG in Duhon with expiring contract Adrian Griffin. I will hold off on analysis until I get confirmation of exactly what this deal is.
3:55 - Yahoo Sports is reporting that Juan Dixon has been dealt to Detroit for Primoz Brezec.
3:47 - The Toronto Star is reporting that Juan Dixon has been traded. The deal is not official yet, so the destination is unknown, but Doug Smith is reporting that it is a one-for-one deal with some cash involved, and the Raptors are not getting a point guard in return. Instead, Carlos Delfino will be their back-up point guard for the rest of TJ Ford’s absence.
3:40 - RealGM is reporting the following, though the link on the news page takes you to the ESPN.com main page rather than a specific news item: The Cavaliers have acquired Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak in a three-team trade.The Bulls receive Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden, while Seattle gets Chris Duhon, Ira Newble and Cedric Simmons. This would be a huge deal for Cleveland, as West and Wally World fit in well on a LeBron team, plus Joe Smith replaces some of Gooden’s scoring. The question would come with Ilgauskas and Wallace sharing the paint, as neither can play power forward. For Chicago, it clears Wallace’s awful contract and gets them the low-post scoring they need in Gooden, though they can’t be happy taking on Larry Hughes’ monster contract. For Seattle, they really just helped out, but they get two expiring deals and Chris Duhon (a great candidate to lead a team with a swing-man superstar, ala Durant), a bigger haul than I would have thought you could get for unloading Wally’s big contract.
2:56 - The Portland Trail Blazers have sent Taurean Green to Denver for Von Wafer.
2:50 - The Minnesota Timberwolves have dealt Gerald Green to the Houston Rockets for Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round pick.
2:45 - The Hornets-Rockets deal is now officially: The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have acquired guard/forward Bonzi Wells, guard Mike James, and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard Adam Haluska, guard Bobby Jackson, forward Marcus Vinicius and a 2008 second round pick. As part of the three-team deal, the Memphis Grizzlies will receive Vinicius, the rights to Malick Badiane and cash considerations in exchange for the rights to Sergei Lishouk.
2:30 - Okay, because there are no deals going down officially, here is a huge rumor reported by Chad Ford: Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and Chris Duhon to Cleveland for Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes. The hang up is that the Bulls want expiring contracts instead of Hughes but the Cavs are trying to use said expiring deals to score Wally World from Seattle. I don’t really understand a Wallace-Ilgauskas front court since neither can play power forward, but Duhon and Szczerbiak would be good additions around LeBron.
2 - Wow, this has been a very boring deadline so far. Not even the ESPN chat with Chad Ford had much in terms of concrete rumors. At least it won’t be as bad as last year already…Bonzi Wells is definately a bigger deal than Juan Dixon.
12:30 - It looks like the details I’ve reported are the most we’ll get for the Houston-New Orleans deal, so it’s essentially B-Jax for Bonzi Wells and Mike James (who?). As always, see below for more detailed analysis.
11am - ESPN is now (finally) reporting the Houston-New Orleans deal as well, though apparently it is not finalized. There is still speculation on whether Memphis will be involved (apparently they want Marcus Vinicius from NO) and, if not, whether it will be Adam Haluska and a 2nd round pick accompanying Bobby Jackson to Houston or some other prospect-pick combination.
10am - It appears imminent that Bonzi Wells and Mike James will be dealt from the Houston Rockets to the New Orleans Hornets for a package of players centered around Bobby Jackson. However, three different sources I looked at have reported slightly different deals (including one scenario involving Memphis as a third team), so I will wait until a deal is official to elaborate.

Older Trades
February 20 - San Antonio acquires Kurt Thomas from Seattle for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, and a 2009 1st round pick.
February 19 - Dallas acquires Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright from New Jersey for Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Desagna Diop, Keith Van Horn, Maurice Ager, 1st round picks in 2008 and 2010, and $3M.
February 16 - Atlanta acquires Mike Bibby from Sacramento for Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Anthony Johnson, Tyronne Lue, and a 2008 2nd round draft pick.
February 6 - Phoenix acquires Shaquille O’Neal from Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.
February 4 - New Jersey acquires Stromile Swift from Memphis for Jason Collins and an undisclosed amount of cash.
February 1 – Los Angeles (Lakers) acquires Pau Gasol and a 2010 2nd round draft pick from Memphis for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol, and 1st round picks in 2008 and 2010.

Want to know what teams might be looking for today? Check out the wish list for The East and The West. Additionally, check here for the rules hanging over any potential trades today.

Trade Coverage

Huge Three Team Deal
February 21 - Cleveland has acquired Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and a Bulls’ 2nd round pick; Chicago has acquired Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown; Seattle has acquired Ira Newble, Adrian Griffin, and Donyell Marshall, all in a monster 3-team, 11-player deal made right at the deadline.

Initially it looks like Cleveland got a good haul. West and Wally World fit in well on Cleveland and Joe Smith replaces some of Gooden’s scoring, plus they unloaded Larry Hughes. Pairing Ben Wallace and Big Z Ilgauskas, though, is bizarre and I can’t see how it’s going to work. Chicago gave up on Wallace quickly but got a great big-man in Gooden, who gives them some low-post scoring they desperately need. Unfortunately, they had to take on Hughes, but his contract is more manageable than Wallace’s. Seattle got out of Wally’s big contract, got two expiring deals, and Donyell’s deal runs out next year, so not bad, but I’m surprised they didn’t get a pick anywhere in this deal.

For more coverage on this trade check this out.

Juan Dixon to Detroit for Primoz Brezec
February 21 - The Toronto Raptors have acquired Primoz Brezec from the Detroit Pistons for Juan Dixon.

Bryan Colangelo was working the phones hard all week to try and move Dixon. It’s a fair request from Dixon, who just wanted to play to increase his free agent value. Unfortunately, he probably will be relegated to blow-out duty on the Pistons, but hey, he could get a ring out of it. The Raps get another European, 7-foot center with decent shooting ability. He doesn’t provide the Raptors the toughness or rebounding they needed, but the salaries are a dead match, so this is a case of them just doing Juan a favor. The trade is largely inconsequential for both teams from an on-court stand point, but Dixon feels like a Piston and Brezec is a fellow Slovenian to chill with Rasho.

For more on this deal, click here.

Taurean Green to Denver for Von Wafer
February 21 - The Denver Nuggets have acquired Taurean Green from the Portland Trail Blazers for Von Wafer.

Similar to the Dixon-for-Jones trade at the deadline last year, Portland is just shaking up the roster to get more out of the end of their bench. With a serious point guard log jam, bringing in Von Wafer makes sense, and he may even see some run as an end-of-the-bench shooting guard. Wafer has a good three point stroke, and former NCAA National Champion Green wasn’t going to jump Rodriguez or Jack on the PG depth chart. For Denver, it’s no-lose as well, since Wafer wasn’t playing and they are in need of point guard depth. While Green is unlikely to get run for them now, he may develop into a good back-up and is good insurance on an injury-plagued team. I love seeing common sense deals like this go down.

Gerald Green to Houston for Kirk Snyder and a 2nd Rouner
February 21 - The Houston Rockets have acquired Gerald Green from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round draft pick.

Green provides Houston with some youth and athleticism at the wing and is a hometown boy. He has shown flashes of great potential and is an energetic and likable player coming off the bench. The Rockets needed a change-of-pace player behind Shane Battier and Green should learn a lot from his carbon copy Tracy McGrady. The T-Wolves pick up a middle second round pick and the expiring contract of Kirk Snyder (he is restricted). Snyder is also a former lottery pick and is still just 24, so it’s possible the Wolves could tender him a qualifying offer to keep him around next year. I’m pretty surprised Green’s value is this low. Then again, I’m still trying to figure out why he’s gotten no playing time on a rebuilding last place team.

Bonzi Wells and Mike James to New Orleans for Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska, and a 2nd Rounder
February 21 - The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have acquired guard/forward Bonzi Wells, guard Mike James, and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in exchange for guard Adam Haluska, guard Bobby Jackson, forward Marcus Vinicius and a 2008 second round pick. As part of the three-team deal, the Memphis Grizzlies will receive Vinicius, the rights to Malick Badiane and cash considerations in exchange for the rights to Sergei Lishouk.

The Hornets finally make a move to give them some post depth, and Bonzi is a great choice, coming with 36 games of playoff experience and a variety of skills the Hornets lack. The cost was taking back Mike James’ ugly contract, but he may provide some depth as a shoot-first combo guard. The Rockets get some financial relief, unloading James for Jackson, who has one less year on his deal. Jackson is also a more poised and savvy floor leader, something the Rockets have lacked for some time. The Grizzlies take on a little extra salary to make the trade work, but are mostly irrelevant here.

For more on this trade, check out our analysis here.

Kurt Thomas to San Antonio for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, and a 2009 1st Rounder
February 20 - San Antonio acquires Kurt Thomas from Seattle for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, and a 2009 1st round pick.

The Spurs make a move to shore up their depth behind Tim Duncan and lessen the defensive burden on their star. This also keeps Thomas away from other Western Conference powers looking to shore up their depth, so it works as a defensive move, too. The two players going to Seattle both have expiring contracts, so Seattle essentially just picks up a future first rounder, giving them eight total in the next three drafts.

For more on this trade, check out our analysis here.

Jason Kidd to Dallas in a Multi-Player/Pick Deal
February 19 - Dallas acquires Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright from New Jersey for Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Desagna Diop, Keith Van Horn, Maurice Ager, 1st round picks in 2008 and 2010, and $3M.

We covered this deal in detail when it was first made, including Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George instead of Trenton Hassell and Keith Van Horn. My opinion is largely the same still, as Dallas gave up too much of their future for a long-shot at the title. While the new deal favors Dallas a little more (they keep two rotation players), it also costs them a good deal more under luxury tax rules. This also put a ‘For Sale’ sign on the entire Nets roster, especially Vince Carter.

For more on this trade, check out our initial coverage here.

Mike Bibby to Atlanta for Four Players and a 2nd Rounder
February 16 - Atlanta acquires Mike Bibby from Sacramento for Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Anthony Johnson, Tyronne Lue, and a 2008 2nd round draft pick.

We covered this deal in detail when it was first announced on All-Star weekend. After one game it looks shaky, but in the short term it should make Atlanta significantly better, securing them a playoff spot and making them an outside threat to upset Orlando in the first round. The Hawks still need a long-term point guard solution and low post scoring, though. For the Kings, the deal gets them cap relief and signals a shift in focus from the old guard to the new (Martin, Salmons, Udrih, Garcia, Hawes). If Sac-Town doesn’t move Artest now, too, you can expect a large fire sale in the offseason.

For more on this trade, check out our initial coverage here.

Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks
February 6 - Phoenix acquires Shaquille O’Neal from Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

We’ll know a little more after the weekend, but this is one of the most bizarre and shocking trades the NBA has seen in some time. Miami gets financial relief and a much brighter future around D-Wade, but word is that they are not done moving yet and feel they could be competitive as early as next year with a Wade-Wright-Marion core, plus an incoming player and lottery pick. For Phoenix, Steve Kerr rolled the dice, betting that the squad he inherited had gone as far as they could go. Shaq could either resurrect his career alongside Nash and make the team ultra-competitive for the last three seasons of Shaq’s, Nash’s, and Hill’s careers, or it could just…not…work.

For more on this trade, check out our initial coverage here.

Stromile Swift to New Jersey for Jason Collins
February 4 - New Jersey acquires Stromile Swift from Memphis for Jason Collins and an undisclosed amount of cash.

This deal doesn’t really fit among these others, but it happened in 2008 so it meets all the criteria I had. It only got a quick blurb in a week in review column, so here is my take: It was a no-lose situation for both as neither player was performing well and their contracts are the exact same. The Nets got an athletic power forward that Kidd wanted (so much for that) and the Grizz got rid of a lockerroom cancer. That’s basically all you need to know.

Pau Gasol to Los Angeles Lakers for…Not Much
February 1 – Los Angeles (Lakers) acquires Pau Gasol and a 2010 2nd round draft pick from Memphis for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol, and 1st round picks in 2008 and 2010.

This shocking Super Bowl weekend deal had everyone scratching their heads and really opened the floodgates for a jam-packed month of trading. The Lakers gave up no rotation players and what will amount to be late picks to get Gasol, a proven post threat to fill Bynum’s place during his injury and complement himwhen he returns. The Grizz got a little bit of cap relief and some low picks (which they are now claiming they don’t want in a trade for Mike Miller or Kyle Lowry). A bizarre start to an incredible trading season, the Grizz got much less than expected and the Lakers seriously improved their chances in the West (though they now rely on Kobe’s pinky).

For more on this trade, check out our initial coverage here.

Keep checking back to The ODC all day for the latest updates and opinions on Deadline Day.