Cavs and Mavs trade up!
By Bruce Marshall
It's still a bit soon to determine the winners and losers from the NBA trade deadline, but a few teams actually tried to help themselves this season rather than a) shedding contracts or b) adding contracts that can be shed after the season to open up more room under the salary cap.
There were a couple of big names on the move, but potential blockbusters involving Phoenix's Amar'e Stoudemire, Boston's Ray Allen, Miami's Michael Beasley, and Utah's Carlos Boozer never materialized.
A quick review of the early "winners" (and "to be determined") at the trade deadline.
Winner: Cleveland...LeBron James wanted one more piece added to the Cavs' puzzle and was granted his wish when veteran F Antawn Jamison (reported to be LeBron's preferred target) was liberated from the Wizards as the main component in a 3-team, five player deal that saw Cleveland surrender C Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Jamison, however, is a far more-refined threat on the attack end than Ilgauskas, who was more expendable after the offseason acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal that provided the presence the Cavs believed they needed on the defensive end to handle quality bigs like Dwight Howard in the postseason.
Winner: Portland...Marcus Camby was reportedly a bit upset at the outset when he heard about being dealt from the Clippers to the Blazers, but for the moment he lands on a playoff-quality team. For the Blazers, this was a major addition, because their interior game has been depleted by injuries to Greg Oden and others, and Camby at least provides Portland with some presence on the blocks that could come in handy against Andrew Bynum, Nene, or Tim Duncan in the playoffs. Sacrificing Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw was a small price for Portland to pay for Camby.
Winner: Dallas...Credit Mark Cuban for trying his best to make the Mavs a champion. We're not sure his recent moves are going to help any more than acquiring Jason Kidd at this time two years ago, but getting big C Brendan Haywood from the Wizards addressed an immediate hole created by Erick Dampier's injury in the Mavericks lineup, while adding the explosive Caron Butler made a few potential Western playoff rivals (including the Lakers' Kobe Bryant) take notice.
Winner: Milwaukee...Nobody is paying much attention to the Bucks, but Central Division observers did not believe Milwaukee could make a push to a playoff berth in the East (which is within reach of a lot of teams) without the injured Michael Redd. Yet adding John Salmons from the Bulls at the deadline can potentially fill that scoring role of Redd and give HC Scott Skiles an important piece to his puzzle for the playoff push.
Winner: New York...No, a hurting Tracy McGrady isn't going to be of much help this season for the Knicks. But that was hardly the reason New York swung this three-team deal with Sacto and Houston for T-Mac, whom they will gladly play and pay for the rest of this season and then dump him in the summer, opening up more cap room for a run at any number of potential big-time FAs, likely to include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Knicks also were able to shed Jared Jeffries' contract and will have money to go after two of those targeted FAs in the summer.
To be detemined: Houston...Adding explosive but injury-prone G Kevin Martin from Sacramento reunites him with former boss Rick Adelman and could be a boon for the Rockets, who get an All-Star quality performer. Houston might miss the versatile F Carl Landry (off to Sacramento) more than it thinks, however, especially if Martin lands on the injured list once more.