NBA Trade Deadline Analysis

Wow, it was looking to be a very dry trading week until the mega deal that sent Carmelo Anthony to New York. By the deadline today, it seemed like half the league had been traded. Here is my analysis on each trade from this week and what it might mean for each team.

The Carmelo Anthony Deal-The Nuggets had to part with their superstar and it seems the part everyone is sadder about is that he had to take Chauncey Billups with him to the Knicks. Coming in return to Denver are Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and a couple other players. All the Timberwolves got in the deal was what seems like a perfect backup center to Darko Milicic in Eddy Curry. Curry has not played in a game in over a year, but the best thing is that his contract expires after this year. Both the Knicks and Nuggets rosters completely changed from this deal so it will be interesting to see where they both end up at the end of the season. The Nuggets are 2-0 already without Carmelo so it may be a bright future.

The Troy Murphy Deal-The Nets traded Troy Murphy to the Warriors for a couple of no name backups. This deal was made so Murphy's contract could be bought out and he could go sign with a contender for the title.

The Carl Landry Deal-The Kings traded Landry to the Hornets for Marcus Thornton in a good deal for New Orleans. Landry is a big defensive presence with an ability to score when relied upon. This will definitely help the Hornets when it comes to playoff time.

The Deron Williams Deal-The surprise of the week was when everyone turned their tvs on and saw Williams was headed to New Jersey. After the Nets missed acquiring Carmelo, they went for the next best thing. And it did not even cost them that much. They are sure to be much improved with Devin Harris for at least the next year and a half, or even more if he decides he likes where the franchise is heading.

The Hinrich/Bibby Deal-The Hawks acquired Kirk Hinrich in order to upgrade their point guard position, but Mike Bibby is a veteran who has had a nice career. True he is getting old, but he has proven he can be clutch during playoff time.The Hawks also lose Maurice Evans in the deal, so it doesnt seem like it will turn out to be so great for the Hawks this year unless I am wrong and Hinrich plays at an all star level for them.

The Baron Davis Deal-It must be tough to be traded in the middle of a season. Especially when you are first starting to enjoy the game in a few years like Baron Davis. However, who knows how he feels after being traded to the worst team in the league. The Clippers meanwhile get a former all star guard in Mo Williams and a good backup in Jamario Moon. This saves the Clippers money and if it was any other team, would mean they could easily have enough money to make a big signing in the offseason.

The Kendrick Perkins Deal-The Celtics are in first in the East so it was not expected they would be doing much this week. However, they decided to make the deals of the day and change half of their roster. The first move they made was trade their center Perkins to the Thunder for Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green. Both are good players, but it doesnt make sense why they would make this trade while both their other centers/Oneals are hurt. Green isnt a center and thats a lot of weight on Krstic to play well/Shaq to play.

The Gerald Wallace Deal-My favorite Bobcats has left Charlotte once again and this one is headed to Portland. The Cats get a couple decent backup centers in return, but the main thing is they will save money and continue their rebuilding project without Wallace who was their last original player on the roster.

The Nazr Mohammed Deal-The bobcats then traded Mohammed to the Thunder for a couple of backups to once again continue rebuilding. The Thunder got another guy to be an inside presence and replace Krstic.

The Marquis Daniels Deal-The Celtics traded Daniels to Sacramento for a draft pick which is maybe the weirdest trade because Daniels is not expected to return this season especially since now he is on a team with no chance of making the playoffs. This is remarkably similar to the Sam Cassell trade a couple of years ago. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3913518

The Cavs-Celtics Deal-The Celtics traded away more players, this time to the Cavs for a draft pick. Both rookies Semih Erden and Luke Harangody are headed from the best in the east to the worst.

The Aaron Brooks Deal-The Rockets traded their unhappy backup point guard to Phoenix where it doesnt sound like he will be able to start either, since there is a guy named Steve Nash starting. The Rockets in return get Goran Dragic who has potential and could be a great backup point guard.

The Shane Battier Deal-The Rockets then sent forward Battier to Memphis where he came from before Houston in return for young center Hasheem Thabeet. Thabeet hasnt worked out since being the number two pick in the draft a couple of years ago. Battier should definitely help the Grizzlies in their quest to make the playoffs. If Thabeet reaches his potential the Rockets will have a center to replace Yao next year.

Those are all the trades that happend this week other than the Bulls sending James Johnson to the Raptors which might be considered the least significant deal of the decade. While some teams such as the Celtics and Thunder completely changed their rosters for the playoffs, other teams such as the Lakers, Spurs, Heat, Mavericks and Magic did nothing to try and improve their rosters. The Cavs now have half a team of rookies and a nice handful of draft picks, but none of their rookies look like all stars of the future and net years draft does not have anyone even close to the talent level of Lebron James.

----Below I have a list of this weeks winners and losers based on their trades/ lack of trades this week.

Winners-Clippers, Thunder, Nets, Nuggets, Spurs, Mavericks, Bobcats, Grizzlies, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Suns, Hornets, Timberwolves, Warriors.

Losers-Jazz, Cavaliers, Magic, Hawks, Kings, Wizards, Raptors, Bulls, Pacers, Bucks, Pistons.

Too Early to Tell-Knicks, Lakers, Celtics, Heat, 76ers.

With Williams and Anthony now on big market teams, all thats left is Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Durant to leave their teams and head for on of the top market teams before the NBA is down to only 8 legitimate teams.

NBA All-Star Weekend Recap

This was the weekend of Blake Griffin. He became the first player to compete in the Rookie Challenge, Slam Dunk Challenge and All Star Game. He is also the first one to have an awesome dunk in all three as well. Griffin shined most on Saturday night when he was in the spotlight during the slam dunk challenge. While his first round dunks showed how flexible and athletic his body is, his dunk in the final round which won it for him showed how creative he could be. Jumping over a car with a choir singing in the background is as awesome as it sounds if you haven't seen it. Javale McGee Demar Derozan and Serge Ibaka all showed their talents as well, but noone could outshine the future of the Clippers and the NBA, Blake Griffin.

Yesterday was the all star game and it was disappointing in my opinion. No, not because I did not want the west to win, but because Kobe Bryant was MVP. In my opinion, he was not, but he was definitely the MSP, Most Selfish Player. It was the first time I ever remember seeing someone in the all star game taking shots while being double teamed and taking 24 field goal attempts! I think it was obvious Kobe just wanted to be the MVP and did whatever he could to reach that goal while the rest of the team helped him. 37 points is great, but not when you take more shots then half of the rest of your team combined.

The real MVP in my opinion was Lebron. Its a shame the east did not win because he deserved MVP. It was only the second triple double in all star history and he had 29 points and 12 rebounds with 10 assists. He brought the east back in and did not take every possible shot throughout the game like Kobe. Today, people are talking about how Kobe still has it, well I think he still has something. His selfishness. He cannot be arguing that he only took so many shots because he did not have a good supporting cast, because if his teammates were not good enough for him, who is? Good luck Kobe in the second half, because if you keep on being so selfish, your Lakers will never reach the NBA finals.

Wednesday Sports Update

Last summer, something happened that had never happened before in sports. Lebron James showed how players have the power in sports today and held 'The Decision' to tell everyone he was headed for Miami. We all thought it would never happen again, but after today it looks like that may not be so. St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, Albert Pujols set a deadline on contract extensions which ended today, meaning he refuses to negotiate from now until the end of the season cause it might be a distraction. But the real distraction may be thinking about 9 months from now when he is on the podium, as a free agent and says he is not returning to the Cardinals. The only thing worse than that for Cardinal fans would be if he signed in chicago. Most people can only hope he decides to stay in St. Louis, but who knows, maybe he will end up somewhere else. Personally, Im hoping for LA, but the biggest story heading into spring training might be at a close.

Now to the NBA, Where amazing really does happen. Most people are probably in shock after hearing that the Lakers lost to the Cavaliers today. I am happiest that now no one can make fun of my Clippers for losing to them last week, especially when the clippers at least forced overtime. But its not looking good for the Lakers headed into the all-star break, nine games behind the Spurs.

I think the top news of the day though, other than the Clippers defeating the Twolves, was the return to the court by Chris Kaman. Kaman has been out almost all season due to various injuries and if he could even get close to the all star year he had last year, the Clippers front court would be amongst the top in the game. With Blake Griffin, Kaman, and the young and upcoming Deandre Jordan, not many teams would be able to compete with the clippers' front line. Also tonight the Heat defeated the Raptors in Chris Bosh's return to Toronto. I bet he felt a lot better being on the side he is on seeing the Heat are right there at the top of the eastern conference with the Celtics heading into All-Star weekend. It should be an interesting weekend not only with the festivities, but with union talks and Carmelo Anthony trade talks. Stay tuned for more updates.

MLB Spring Training, Who's there and Who Ain't

Spring training is starting and people are looking at the Phillies' amazing new rotation, or the Red Sox's amazing new lineup, but I am focused on something else; the people who will not be showing up this week for spring training. That's right, there are still quite a few free agents left who I feel deserve a chance to at least compete for a spot in the upcoming season. Of the list of remaining free agents, I have compiled the top ten left; in my opinion.

#10-Kevin Millwood-Sure, his ERA has been over 5.00 the last few seasons, but it is hard to believe someone with the career he has had and the durability he would bring, remains unsigned. Someone needs to give him a shot even if it is only a minor league deal. With Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz all retired now, he is the only active player from that 90s rotation.

#9. Bengie Molina-He is another old timer who I thought would be one of the first catchers to be signed, considering he played for both World Series teams last year as a starter. I hope he gets a deal somewhere, unless he decides to retire, which there are rumors of.

#8. Chad Durbin-He has greatly improved over the last few seasons and would be a great help to any bullpen. He will definitely be signed at some point in the next few months.

#7. Scott Podsednik-Opted out of his contract probably thinking he could get more money, but once again he is looking for a team. He has been rumored towards signing with the Angels for over a month now and with not many other free agents left, I am surprised he has not.

#6. Christian Guzman-This former all-star faded quickly after being traded last year to the Rangers and failed to even make their postseason roster. Perhaps he will get a minor league deal and earn his way back to the Majors. He definitely will be back one day.

#5. Troy Glaus-The former slugger proved he could at least be a backup after a solid season last year. A team needing a bat off the bench should sign him.

#4. David Eckstein-An example of someone who has worked hard to stay around and had a decent season last year. Maybe the biggest surprise of this list.

#3. Jeremy Bonderman-Is but 28 and out to prove injuries have not completely derailed his career. Rumors had him going to Cleveland, hopefully he'll get a chance to resurrect his game.

#2. Nick Johnson-Was hurt almost all of last year, but if he could stay healthy, he would be among the top 10 offensive first baseman in the league. Injuries are not his best friend.

#1. Russell Branyan-One of my favorite players who despite not being great defensively, still has some power after hitting 25 home runs in only a little over 400 at bats last year. He deserves to be a first baseman or DH somewhere.

Well, there are others who did not make the list or a roster, but we might see this season still such as Willie Aybar, Julio Lugo, John Maine, Scot Shields, Mike Sweeney and Jeff Weaver. So the sooner someone signs these guys, the sooner the unemployment rate goes down.

An Intro and Background

Hello, everybody. My name is Zander Wold and I am starting to write sports blogs, because I love writing how I feel about sports and it seems like a no brainer. I do not really care how many people end up reading my future blogs, but it will always be here in case someone is interested.

Here is just an introduction to me and my sports world- I am a huge fan of the Clippers and Dodgers. So I will probably spend more time on those two teams than any other, but I will do my best to discuss all teams in all sports. My top football team is the Colts and yes I joined the bandwagon(but it was 6 years ago!). Other teams I like are the Charlotte Bobcats and L.A. Kings/Anaheim Ducks (whoever is doing better). I follow sports updates and stories all day, every day so I feel I know quite a lot about them. Meanwhile, I am studying at UC Davis and while I am not the biggest fan of college sports, I still follow them and see what's happening. So keep coming back and read my posts which will most likely be posted often, especially in the coming few weeks. Have a good Tuesday everybody!!