NBA Trade Deadline Update (Everybody Loves LeBron)

Of course right after I finished my trade deadline bit yesterday LeBron got his wish half-granted. He wanted a play-making point guard. He got four solid-to-decent rotation players, including one with some Finals experience. In case you live in a cave the Cavs got Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Delonte West and Wally World. That might not sound great but they were acquired for Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and belly button lint. Yes the Cavs added salary but none past two seasons from now, which, incidentally, is when LeBron becomes a free agent. So they added for now without cramping their long-term plans. Larry Hughes has his own horrible contract (Danny Ferry - 5 years $60 for Hughes? Seriously? Did Billy King help you on that deal? We're y'all working off of Kenny Thomas' contract? The fuck?) and Drew Gooden was gonna need a new contract this summer. Got that?

While I don't think the Cavs added the point guard they needed or the secondary scorer that they needed but they got 4 useful players while giving up only two and not surrendering any first round picks. That's good enough for me but I suspect in the grand scheme of things, it won't be enough to win. Especially now that Daniel Gibson (Boobie!) is gonna miss the dreaded 4-6 weeks with a bad-ass ankle sprain. Wally World welcome back to the pressure cooker. Playing the role of Kevin Garnett will be LeBron James. The 8 o'clock show is always different than the 3 o'clock show so make sure you tune in for both.

The other couple of deadline deals amount to the usual trading of spare parts. Although the Rockets did get Gerald Green on the cheap. I'm just not sure that his athleticism is ever gonna translate to basketball skills. The problem is somebody will throw some millions at him anyways and he'll never learn.

At the end of the day it's the same story for me. From the jump I liked the Pistons and Spurs. I'm not gonna back down now. The Pistons need to avoid the Cavs and the Spurs need to avoid the Lakers. Although those would be some great games to watch. I'm not gonna make full predictions now or anything but we will roll with the Pistons and the Spurs still.

Check out John Hollinger's breakdown of the trades at the deadline. He does some excellent work for the Worldwide Leader.