The Big NBA Trades

We've had a few games to begin to digest the big NBA deadline trades. They were certainly blockbuster moves, garnering headlines from coast to coast, with one 11-player trade and stars like Shaq and Jason Kidd getting new area codes. Cleveland and Chicago appeared to get better with the three-team, 11-player deal involving Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Adrian Griffin and Larry Hughes.

The Cavaliers went from being a defensive-oriented team with one star on offense (LeBron James) and a lot of offensive deadwood, to one with multiple scoring options. Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and guard Delonte West made a big impression on Sunday in a 109-89 blowout of Memphis. James led the way with 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, Smith had 14 points, six rebounds and Szczerbiak had 10 points to help the Cavs to their third straight victory.

The forgotten man of the NBA, Ben Wallace, was also impressive, making the starting lineup for Cleveland and finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds. Wallace is the defensive and rebounding force, while LeBron and his other new mates can focus on offense. Cleveland was 25th in the NBA in shooting before the trade. After making the NBA Finals last year with a slow-down, defensive approach, it seems the Cavs are opening up the offense for two reasons. 1) They were boring, with little scoring, and fewer wins this season; 2) Keeping LeBron happy with more wins and an uptempo style might entice him to stick around longer. Wearing a NY Yankees cap to the 2007 ALCS in Jacobs Field wasn't the smartest PR move for LeBron, and certainly showed where his heart is. He could bolt after the 2009-10 season.

Chicago got younger by dumping Wallace, as newcomer Larry Hughes, at 29, is the Bulls' elder statesman. Both Hughes and 6-10 Drew Gooden expressed excitement over the trade. They were delighted with their first game in their new uniforms, rolling up 135 points in a win over the Nuggets. It signaled a youth movement in Chicago. With Wallace out it frees up more time in the frontcourt for Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

In that win over Denver, it was the first time all season all five Bulls' starters reached double figures. The Bulls also set a league season high with 56 field goals. The joke in Chicago is that Ben Wallace really had been playing defense for the Bulls all season: He kept stopping Thomas and Noah from contributing!

While that win added some electricity to the Bulls, they quickly came back to earth in a 110-97 loss at Houston. Offense has been a problem more than defense, but the reverse was true against the Rockets. "Too much penetration," interim coach Jim Boylan said. "It's an area we have to get better at." Chicago is 3-0 over the total the last three games since that trade, an angle to keep an eye on with all their new personnel.

Out West, Dallas has a new point guard in Jason Kidd. It's tough to size this trade up yet, as the Mavericks won by 15 and 16 points, but it was to the Grizzlies and T-Wolves. Kidd just played in his 1,000th game and amassed 17 assists against Minnesota. Defense was the story in those games for Dallas, as both sailed way under the total. In fact, Dallas is on a 10-4 run under the total. A point to keep in mind about the Mavericks is that Erik Dampier is the team's only true center and he's logging more minutes and more responsibility.

The Spurs got rid of longtime three-point threat Brent Barry to get bigger up front with Kurt Thomas. This is an interesting move, as Barry was an important role player for San Antonio helping them to two titles. When the Spurs lost to the Lakers in the playoffs a few years ago, LA just packed the paint on Duncan and dared the Spurs to beat them from long range. They were miserable from beyond the arc. The next season they added Barry and teams could not longer ignore the three-point line.

San Antonio wants to get some bulk in the paint, it seems, because of the BIG move Phoenix made, bringing in Shaq. Shaq was brought in as a role player for the first time in his career, to play 20 minutes a game, or a weapon the run-and-gun Suns could go to when other teams (San Antonio) slowed the pace down. The down side is they gave up depth and a star player (Shawn Marion) for the aging, overweight and oft-injured diesel.

So far they don't look so hot, on a 1-2 SU/ATS run. Worse, all three games were at home, losing to the Lakers 130-124 and getting blown out by the Pistons, 116-86. It was the Suns worst loss of the season. The Pistons give Phoenix matchup problems galore. Their rotation has enough size to dominate the boards (outrebounding the Suns 48-32) and spread the floor with shooting. After shooting 42.5 percent in Friday's win over Boston, Phoenix shot 41.6 percent Sunday. It was the first time that the Suns scored fewer than 90 points in consecutive games in the four seasons since Nash returned.

The most important thing, from a handicapping perspective, is to remain patient and don't pass judgment too quickly. It always takes time when new players join a team. Chemistry is important and players won't mesh right away. Keep tabs on the new strengths and weaknesses of teams, and be sure and guage how that might be influencing the side and total. After all, new players can mean new winning opportunities ATS -- if you know what to look for.

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