The Aftermath

Well the dust has settled down on this crazy NBA trading deadline. As the stats inform us 10 deals, 29 players and 7 former All Stars got traded. I am going to join the plethora (gotta love that word) of other people in trying to guess how these trades are going to affect the rest of the NBA season and, more importantly, the playoffs. While trades such as Walker ending back in Boston and Webber being dealt to the 76ers have garnered most of the headlines these, I believe, are not the most important trades. While significant and amazing all that these trades do is ensure that the team will go deeper in the playoffs. (Or in Boston's case perhaps make the playoffs). I am going to take a look at some of the smaller deals that will I think will affect the over all picture more.

Nazr Mohammed to the Spurs.
San Antonio has put together one of the best teams of all time and they have done it without having an outrageous payroll. [Insert generic Isiah Thomas joke here]. The Suprs made another great move yesterday by signing Nazr Mohammed in exchange for Malik Rose. Nazr is in the midst of a career year. he is scoring 10 ppg, hauling down 8 rpg and swating away 1 shot per game. in fact he is better than Malik Rose in every single category, except for assists where Rose has a 0.3 advantage and 3PT% where both are tide at 0%. Nazr Mohammed also earns a significantly lower salary as compared to Rose. And to top it all off he is also taller than Malik Rose so he can spell in for relief for both Rasho Nesterovic and Tim Duncan. In fact Mohammed has been playing so well of late that he could even challenge Rasho for the starting job as the center.

Mike James to the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets have had point guard woe all season long. Jeff van Gundy has tried out 6 different players at the spot but apart form Bobby Sura none have played well. With Sura in the lineup the Rockets had finally started resembling the championship contenders that many thought that they would be during the off season. However with Sura battling injuries the Rockets have struggled to find a viable replacement. The latest example of this was the Rockets-Spurs game on last Wednesday. Despite of keeping it close all through game (the Spurs in fact didn't have their first lead since the 1st quarter until mid way through the 3rd) atrocious guard play in the fourth doomed the Rockets. They couldn't execute on the offensive end and couldn’t stop Tony Parker at the other. The Houston front office hope to address the point guard woes by signing Mike James. James has had a good year with the Bucks where he is averaging a career high in points. He has also had playoff experience at the highest level, he was a solid back up guard with the Championship winning Detroit team. With this signing I think the Rockets are able to get a point guard who will tide them over until Bobby Sura can play and then provided a viable back up option for them too.

Jiri Welsch to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland has been desperately seeking a three point shooter all season long. With rookie Luke Jackson out for the rest of the season the Cavaliers don't have a threat from deep to stop opposing teams from collapsing on James or Ilgauskas in the paint. It has only been James extraordinary passing skills that have kept the opposing team's defense off balance. Jiri Welsch brings a career 36% three point shooting average to Cleveland and should hope fully see more burn than he did in Boston. I think Jiri is a far better player than his stats would indicate, the Czech however has looked lost under Coach River's system. However with a Cavs he should be able to do what he is best at hang around 20-22 feet away from the basket and knock down the open shots that James and the Big Z create for him. Even if he doesn't perform great in the regular season, mark my word, Welsch is going to knock down some important three's for the Cavaliers in the post season.