New Orleans Hornets' Ryan Anderson (33) reaches for a rebound between Cleveland Cavaliers' Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights (15) during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 105-100. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Of the dozen deals at the NBA trade deadline, most were salary-cap conscious.
There might not have been many blockbusters, but Memphis' trade of Rudy Gay to Toronto was certainly a headliner. However, that occurred on Jan. 31.
The Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors made deals to get under the luxury-tax threshold. Chicago tried desperately to follow suit, but the Bulls were unable to trade veteran shooting guard Richard Hamilton. Chicago will be a taxpayer for the first time.
There were 12 trades, involving 18 teams, and more than 20 players changed hands in the final 24 hours before Thursday's deadline.
The following are some of the winners and losers:
Winners
-- Cavaliers: GM Chris Grant stood pat at the deadline, but it wasn't because they didn't try to make a deal. Their big trade came on Jan. 22, when they acquired center Marreese Speights, guards Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby and a first-round pick from Memphis for Jon Leuer. They were able to keep their flexibility ? very important to Grant ? and $4 million in cap space.
Grant could conceivably clear out half the roster after this season. C.J. Miles, Speights, Ellington, Selby, Omri Casspi, Daniel Gibson, Luke Walton, Shaun Livingston and Kevin Jones could be free agents.
Grant wanted a first-round pick to go with his collection. However, he couldn't find a taker for Speights.
-- Houston: The Rockets were forced to give up on the talented Patrick Patterson, but acquired the No. 5 pick in the 2012 draft in Sacramento power forward Thomas Robinson in a six-player deal. The Kings viewed Robinson as their third big, since he couldn't supplant either Justin Thompson or DeMarcus Cousins. Two questions beg to be answered: Why draft him in the first place? Why give up on him eight months after drafting him? I'd love to know the Kings' thinking on this. Continued...
-- Golden State: The Warriors made two subtle moves by shipping out two former second-round picks in center Jeremy Tyler (Atlanta) and guard Charles Jenkins (Philadelphia) to get under the tax threshold of $70.8 million. Paying the tax is one thing. Being a repeat offender is disastrous. They didn't want to start the process.
-- Milwaukee: Adding a player like shooting guard J.J. Redick is huge, if the Bucks are able to re-sign him. On the surface, it doesn't appear as if Redick will want to stay in Milwaukee unless GM John Hammond overpays (which could happen). The move should keep the Bucks in the playoff race. It also gives them protection if guard Monta Ellis opts out of his contract. He might want to think twice about opting out of an $11 million contract. He might not be able to recoup that on the open market. "I don't know what Milwaukee is doing," TNT analyst Charles Barkley said. "They are just trying to cover the market on guards. They've got Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings. Reddick isn't better than either one of those guys. I don't know what they're trying to do."
-- Toronto: The Raptors shipped point guard Jose Calderon to the Pistons in the deal that added slick forward Rudy Gay. The Raptors have a completely new feel after adding Gay. They are talking playoffs in Toronto. That's probably not going to happen, but let them dream.
-- Phoenix: In an under-the-radar deal, the Suns got forward Marcus Morris from Houston for a second-round pick. He'll be reunited with twin brother Markieff Morris with the Suns. The Van Arsdale family will be excited. However, the Zeller family isn't. Tyler Zeller's brother, Luke, was waived to fit Marcus on the Suns' roster.
-- Portland: The Trail Blazers now have a legitimate backup point guard in Eric Maynor. In a deal concluded 30 minutes before the deadline, he was sent to Portland for the NBA rights to Greek player Giorgos Printezis.
Losers
-- Atlanta: After a lot of bluster, Hawks GM Danny Ferry was unable to trade forward Josh Smith. The Hawks will reshape their team in the offseason. They could have just three players under contract after this year: center Al Horford and guards John Jenkins and Lou Williams. The rest of the roster are free agents or don't have fully guaranteed contracts. No teams appeared to be willing to give up what Ferry wanted for Smith, who insists he never demanded a max contract. He told NBA.com's Sekou Smith, "I never asked for the max. Those words never came out of my mouth." That's good, too, because he's not a max player.
"You can't give up a valuable asset (to acquire Smith) when you don't know if the guy is going to stay with you beyond this year," Barkley said.
-- Sacramento: The Kings appear to be in cost-cutting mode, as the Maloof brothers are trying to move the team to Seattle. They saved about $1 million in the Robinson trade, and another million in salary savings. Sorry, but that's a total joke. "I don't think they got maximum value out of him," TNT analyst Kenny Smith said.
-- Washington: They dealt guard Jordan Crawford, a player in Coach Randy Wittman's rotation, for a journeyman center (Jason Collins) and an offensive-minded guard who will miss the rest of the season with an injury (Leandro Barbosa). Crawford went to Boston in the deal. I just can't figure this one out. I don't see how it benefits the Wizards. Continued...
Rumor mill
-- Cavs coach Byron Scott said he hasn't spoken to veterans and Gibson recently after they fell out of his rotation. "I haven't addressed it," he said. "I talked to ?Boobie' and I talked to Omri earlier this season. You always tell those guys who are veterans to just stay ready. The one thing about both of those guys is they've been very professional. They come to work every single day. They're just waiting to get their opportunity. If somebody gets injured or hurt or isn't playing well, they'll get an opportunity again. The second unit's playing well together, and our starters are playing pretty well. So, we're making some strides. We're going to keep it the same way unless something else changes as far as an injury or something like that occurs."
-- According to an Israeli website, Casspi wants a buyout. He's no longer in the team's plans. It wouldn't be surprising if the Cavs do buy him out. Gibson missed Saturday's game for personal reasons.
-- The Cavs will face LeBron James and the Miami Heat on Sunday night. "LeBron James will probably win his fourth MVP, but there has to be a lot of consideration for Tony Parker," TNT analyst Reggie Miller said. Barkley said he thinks the Spurs' point guard should be consideration, too. "Tony Parker should be the MVP," he said. "He's unbelievable."
-- Maybe injured Bulls point guard Derrick Rose should tell his brother to shut up. Reggie Rose, Derrick's brother and manager, said Thursday that the franchise hasn't put enough quality players around Rose to win a championship. He said that could be a "big factor" in whether he returns this season from a knee injury, he told ESPN Chicago. Reggie was concerned the Bulls didn't make any moves at the deadline to get better. The Bulls issued a statement from Rose on Thursday. "I have always felt that the Bulls organization's goals have been the same as mine and that is to bring another championship to this city," he said.
-- Speaking of keeping one's mouth shut, how about Mavericks owner Mark Cuban saying the Lakers should use their amnesty clause on future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant? He made the comments on the "Ben and Skin Show" on ESPN Dallas. Bryant will make almost $30 million next season.
Quick shots
-- Scott said he's seen no evidence of Kyrie Irving's teammates being jealous of his success. "I think these guys understand we're still a team," Scott said. "As great as Kyrie has been playing, he can't do it by himself. You need those other four guys to be out there doing their job as well. I think that's the beauty of basketball. Our guys, I don't think they get jealous or anything like that. I don't care who scores, at the end of the day, there's two columns that really matter: that ?W' and that ?L.' That's it. I think our guys are starting to understand that."
-- Scott was asked recently why he's been keeping Jones, a rookie forward, with the club instead of letting him play in the NBA Development League. "He still has to learn our system, but it's still good to have him here to continue to go against these guys every day and continue to learn the system," Scott said. "For the most part, he'll probably be here for the rest of the year."
Information for the NBA notebook was gathered by personal interviews and from other beat writers around the league. Continued...
By the numbers
Odds are courtesy of Bovada, (www.Bovada.lv): Will the Lakers make the playoffs?
Yes -150 (2/3)
No +110 (11/10)
Source: http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/02/23/sports/nh6591802.txt
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