NBA Trades: Champs and Chumps Part 2

     This season’s trade deadline was a real doozy.  All stars and superstars, draft picks and cash were all major pieces moved around, changing the whole outlook  of the NBA landscape, especially the playoffs.  With these major trades, some end up as champs, while others end up as chumps.


Popping a Pill

Chicago Bulls receive Flip Murray, Acie Law IV and future draft pick (possibly 2012), Charlotte Bobcats receive Tyrus Thomas


Champs: Charlotte got an athletic albeit mistake-prone shot blocker and post presence, but the success will be measured by how patient Coach Larry Brown will be with him.  If Brown can be patient and teach him, he could be the final piece the Bobcats need to finally make the playoffs.  The best part is, Thomas will be an unrestricted free agent by the end of the year, so if the experiment this year doesn't work, they can always throw him out.


Chumps: The Bull's encountered internal strife with Thomas butting heads with Coach Vinny del Negro, and the bad part is, they made it public.  With everyone knowing Thomas was a headache, the Bulls couldn't get much more than they got.


Catching Salmon

Chicago Bulls receive Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick, Milwaukee Bucks receive John Salmons, two second round picks and a swap of 2010 1st round picks


Champs: The Bull's redeemed themselves with this one.  Wanting to be a player in next year's free agent bidding war, they were able to dump Salmons's big contract in exchange for expiring contracts, one of which (Warrick) is actually becoming a useful player in his first two games.  All they lost was Salmons, whose play was sub standard for them.


Chumps: The Buck's obviously are targetting a run at this year's playoffs, but dumping two expiring contracts would hamper them in getting a free agent next year.  This year's run to the playoffs had better be worth it.


Three's Company

Houston Rockets receive Kevin Martin, Hilton Armstrong, Jared Jeffries, swap of 2011 draft picks with New York and New York's 2012 draft pick, Sacramento Kings receive Carl Landry, Joey Dorsey, Larry Hughes, New York Knicks receive Sergio Rodriguez, Tracy McGrady.


Champs: Rarely does a trade have three happy parties, but this trade seems to do the trick.  The Rockets get their big time scorer in Martin, secured their future with picks and get this... they got below the luxury tax line too. GM Daryl Morey is a freakin' genius.  The Knicks got rid of more contracts (Jeffries) and headache (Hughes) and they brought a buzz to interest fans in McGrady.  Since McGrady's contract is expiring, they will still be in the running to grab to marquee free agents if they are lucky.  The Kings got a lot of financial relief by removing Martin, and they figure to get more by buying out Hughes.  While they lost a scorer in Martin, they got a solid Landry in exchange and they also cleared the way for Tyreke Evans to emerge as the star he seems destined to become.


Going Green

Boston Celtics receive Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry, New York Knicks receive Eddie House, Bill Walker, J.R. Giddens and conditional 2nd round draft pick


Champs:  The Celtics are hurt and aging and they needed a shot in the arm.  Robinson, while seemingly mentally unstable or immature at times, can provide the Celtics a secondary ball handler and an athletic presence who can drive to hoop and create his own shot.  If there are concerns about his maturity, the grizzled Big Three will keep him in check and besides all Boston gave up were Eddie House (who seems to have lost a step) and players they never even used.  The Knicks are pretty okay with themselves too, reuniting Eddie House with Coach Mike D'Antoni and getting rid of Nate the headache.  The three players they receive have pretty small contracts, so they won't impede their chances of signing big next offseason.