The NBA trade deadline expired this past week. Some big moves were made in the past couple of days that could shape up the future for some teams. For some, the moves were made for right now. I’ll give you my top five trades that went down either before the trade or right at the trade deadline

#5 Portland get their big man

The Trail Blazers have been a franchise that has been royally jinxed when it comes to big men and getting hurt. The franchise may forever be haunted by their pick of Sam Bowie who had injury plagued career. The latest culprit in Portland’s string of injured big man is former Ohio State Buckeye and #1 overall pick Greg Oden. The seven foot 285 pound big man’s season ended after undergoing surgery on his fractured patella. Some have deemed Oden, like Bowie, one of the biggest busts in the history of the NBA. I think that’s a little harsh for now but all that aside, Portland dealt guard Steve Blake and small forward Travis Outlaw to the Clippers to acquire Camby. The Blazers were starting veteran Juwan Howard at the center position. Camby does make the Blazers more athletic at center and provides much needed depth.

Lost in the trade are former Blazers now Clippers, Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. All three of these players’ contracts will be expiring after this year. Outlaw is a player to watch for in this trade for L.A. He’s a little bit a streaky shooter, but as seen last year in the playoffs, when he’s hot, he’s hard to contain. Outlaw would provide a spark off the bench of L.A. is to resign him…more on that later. Portland was desperate for a big man and found a very serviceable one in Camby. The “other” team in L.A. also has enough money for a big time star. We’ll revisit the Clippers later on.

#4 Nate Robinson goes green

Nate Robinson to the Celtics is, in my opinion, probably the most underrated trade made at the deadline. In fact, I really like this trade for a couple of reasons…but first on the particulars of the trade. Nate Robinson and rarely used forward Marcus Landry go Boston in exchange for Eddie House and couple of other rarely used players in J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker. Little Nate will no doubt provide some fire off the bench that the Celtics have been lacking. No disrespect to Eddie House, who will flourish in Mike Dantoni’s run and gun style, but Robinson is more of a slasher and will attack the rim where as House is a spot up three point jump shooter.

The steal for me in this trade has to go to the Knicks. His name is Bill Walker. Who you ask? I just said it, Bill Walker. Some around the league may be unaware of who Walker is. I remember vividly who he was as he tore through the Big 12 Conference while at Kansas State along side Michael Beasley. Walker never saw the floor too much so it’s hard to say where he’s is at this point of his career. One thing is for sure, the man can play. He tough around the bucket and can step out and shoot the three. He’s a good young player with even greater potential. Remember the name, Bill Walker.

#3 T-Mac launches to New York

On December 9th, 2004, Tracy McGrady accomplished a feat deemed impossible. With 35 seconds left, McGrady scored the 13 points including the game winning triple to shock the San Antonio Spurs, 81-80. At this moment, the fans of Houston could feel the same magic they left when the Rockets won back to back titles in 1994 and 1995. Not only were no championships won, the Rockets failed to win a single playoff series in the McGrady era. Was it his entire fault? No, that’s an unfair statement to make. A fair statement to make is that T-Mac’s career in Houston ended in a cloud controversy after he left the team right before a game against the Raptors.

In order to make the trade happen, Sacramento, New York, and Houston all had to come to terms with each other. In my attempt to make the specifics of the trade make sense, I’ll present like this:

Houston gets: Kevin Martin (Sacramento), Hilton Armstrong (Sacramento), Jordan Hill (New York), and Jared Jeffries (New York) plus the Knicks first round draft picks for the next two years.

New York gets: Tracy McGrady (Houston) and Sergio Rodriguez (Sacramento)

Sacramento gets: Carl Landry (Houston) and Joey Dorsey (Houston)

Got it? Yeah, don’t worry; I’m still wiping the sweat off my forehead after that explanation. So what came out of the deal? McGrady got his fresh start he wanted. Many have questioned whether or not the Mac-Daddy has anything left in the tank. Judging by his 26 point performance on Sunday, I’d say he’s still got just a little bit left. Maybe even enough to get him a new deal with another team. Time will tell if McGrady can really function in a system and more importantly, stay healthy. Maybe more importantly than the trade, New York cleared much needed cap space in order to make a serious run at a big time superstar this summer. Didn’t I hear whispers about LeBron James? It’s possible now.

The Kings, much like the Knicks, got Kevin Martin’s salary off the books to give them a little wiggle room for the summer. For right now, Sac-Town acquired one of the leagues up and coming stars in Carl Landry. While with the Rockets, Landry proved to be a spark plug off the bench, even to the point where many are predicting a 6th man of the year award. Often times, he led the way in points and brought a solid low post presence as well as tons of heart and energy. He is a great young player for Sacramento’s rebuilding job.

A team already filled with youth just got younger. With the McGrady experiment over and Yao Ming still rehabbing, Houston will turn to a new set of youngsters in hopes that they push them back into playoff contention. Kevin Martin is the scorer the Rockets needed. Both Hilton Armstrong and Jordan Hill are virtually unknowns. According to scouts, Hill possesses all the skills of a Kevin Garnett type player but is still very raw. Houston didn’t want to give up Landry but will get two (potentially) high first round draft picks to compensate. This deal will definitely carry benefit in the future for Houston.

#2 Mavs get tough with the trades

Mark Cuban said one week before the trade deadline that his team “sucked” and that changes were coming. The always entertaining Mavs owner was true to his word. Cuban gave up injury prone Josh Howard who had fallen out of favor, Quinton Ross, James Singleton, and Drew Gooden and for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson of Washington.

The aggressive move by Cuban clearly made his team better not just for the future, but for right now. Howard was a wonderful player who did great things while in Dallas but his production had been slipping over the last couple of years. He was in and out of the line-up and had multiple off the court issues. Butler is a clear upgrade from Howard and brings a mental toughness that the Mavs have been lacking for quite some time now. Brendan Haywood adds to the overall upgrade in the toughness department. He’ll battle relentlessly on the boards and is one of the games up and coming big men. Cuban truly made the best deal available for his team.

Washington is clearly in state of rebuilding. With the troubles of star Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards felt it was necessary to deal Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler, and Brendan Haywood. The hope for the Wizards is that by letting all these players go, they can free up cap room to try and make a run at Chris Bosh or D-Wade in the summer. While I can’t see that particular scenario happening, the Washington could free themselves up for a better player in hopes of building around him to turn their franchise around.

#1 Jamison summoned to the King’s court

While Dallas may have made the “best trade” in my eyes, Cleveland landed the trade that makes a dominant team even better. Washington, Cleveland, and L.A. Clippers made a three way deal that sent Antwan Jamison to the Cavs, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Al Thornton to Washington, and Drew Gooden to the Clips. Washington will also receive the first round pick of Cleveland in the upcoming draft this year.

Last year in playoffs, many analysts said LeBron James didn’t have the talent he needed to win a championship. That excuse won’t fly if the Cavs fail to win the NBA title this year. Jamison is a player that can create his own shot and take some of the pressure off James to be perfect during games. LeBron is an unselfish player who demands double teams. Jamison should have several open looks as a result. (Note: I do realize that Cleveland went on a three game losing streak following this trade. I also realize that Jamison went 0-for-12 in his debut for Cleveland. Don’t panic Cavs fans; everything is going to be okay. They got the W tonight.)

As my analysis of Washington said earlier, the Wizards are in a state of rebuilding. Getting the expiring contract of Big Z from Cleveland is just another example of the attempt to clear cap space for free agency this summer.  Again, I don’t feel like the Wizards have the players in place to land a LeBron, Chris Bosh, or D-Wade. It appears that Washington is starting the process of starting over.

The Clippers, much like the Wizards, have created cap room for the summer 2010 free-for-all. Also like Washington, I really don’t believe that Clips will be able to sign a big time free agent. What the “other” L.A. team can do is build around what they have. Baron Davis at the point, sharp shooting Eric Gordon, big man Chris Kaman, and last year’s overall number one pick Blake Griffin (assuming he comes back healthy). To me, this is what separates the Clips from Washington; they are actually in a better situation player wise. The Clips, as I mentioned earlier, probably won’t get a top tier player but if they can land say a Carlos Boozer or Joe Johnson, and possibly resign Travis Outlaw, they may have something there to make them competitive in West division.

Image from UNT Athletic Department