The NBA trade deadline came and went today, and unless you are a fan of the Indiana Pacers or Philadelphia 76ers, you probably don't give a damn about anything that happened. This wasn't quite the flurry of crap that we saw last year, but it was close.
First, the one semi-big trade. The deadline buzzer had already sounded when Woj swooped in to drop this bomb on everybody:
Boom! This is a pretty great move for the Pacers, who get a 25-year-old wing who's in the middle of a career year—he's averaging 17 points, six rebounds and nearly four assists per game—who can come in and take all of crap-ass C.J. Watson's minutes. Nobody really knows if Evan Turner is any good or not, since he's played some truly ugly basketball in Philly, but he's at least attacking the rim at a much higher clip these days. (Last year he took just 29 percent of his shots from eight feet or closer, that's up to 38 percent this year.) If he continues to play well he could slide in as a nice longterm replacement for Lance Stephenson if Stephenson's offseason price tag gets too high.
As for the Sixers, they get an expiring contract in Danny Granger and a future second round pick from Indiana. Good job, Sixers. Now, on to the crap!
The Nuggets traded Andre Miller, who has been rotting on the bench since his falling out with Brian Shaw, to the Wizards for Jan Vesely, who has a very tall girlfriend and also sucks at doing a lot of things that a basketball player should be able to do. The Nuggets also traded swingman Jordan Hamilton to the Houston Rockets for Aaron Brooks, who has been traded to and from the Rockets at least 45 times at this point.
OK, moving on. What else do we have? It looks like the Spurs traded Nando De Colo to the Raptors for Austin Daye. Neat.
The Clippers sent Antawn Jamison to the Hawks, but nobody seems to know what they got in return yet. And then they sent Byron Mullens to the Sixers, and nobody yet knows what they got for him, either. Maybe nothing? Probably nothing.
(Side note: The best thing about today's trade deadline action was the Stein Line Live page on ESPN.com. It was literally just a running scroll of Marc Stein's Twitter feed. I guess that would be useful for old people who don't know how to use Twitter?)
Hey, a deal involving a championship contender! The Heat sent Roger Mason Jr. to the Kings in exchange for a second round pick. Now Rashard Lewis and James Jones are all that remain of the Heat's squadron of old dudes who used to be good shooters.
The Bobcats got Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour from the Bucks in exchange for Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien. Sure, why not.
The Cavaliers nabbed Spencer Hawes from the Sixers in exchange for Henry Sims, Earl Clark, and two second round picks. This will surely keep Kyrie Irving in Cleveland longterm! Good to see Dan Gilbert really going for it.
The Warriors made a trade that will actually impact this year's playoff race. They finally found their Jarrett Jack replacement in Steve Blake, whom the Lakers sent them in exchange for Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks. Blake should fit in nicely as the backup point guard, but there's no telling how much the loss of Bazemore's bench celebrations will dampen the Warriors' morale.
OK, last trade. Sorry, we're almost done. The Nets acquired Marcus Thornton from the Kings in exchange for Jason Terry and Reggie Evans. Thornton has shown himself capable of being a good scorer, but he's been dreadful this year. His contract isn't very big, but because the Nets are already so far over the cap, his arrival will cost the Nets an extra $7.5 million once the luxury tax hit is added. Mikhail Prokhorov does what he wants.
Don't hurt yourself pumping your fist over all the wheelin' and dealin'.