Pau Gasol to the Lakers starts an NBA transfer avalanche

The Los Angeles Lakers made sure disgruntled superstar Kobe Bryant would want to continue wearing those purple and gold unis by acquiring Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for future prospects (Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol) and – essentially - an expiring contract (Kwame Brown) along with draft picks.

The Lakers rightfully expected Kobe to instantly become a lot happier about his team than he was previously, which did happen. Yet I don’t think even they expected this trade to balloon into an avalanche of blockbuster moves from other western teams to keep pace with them.

Now we have the Phoenix Suns making a bold, high risk move to get Shaquille O’Neal to team up with Steve Nash for a title run. We have the Dallas Mavericks welcoming home Jason Kidd, an all-star point guard they originally drafted and were all too happy to let go when he did not produce wins. The Denver Nuggets are discussing trades with the Sacramento Kings involving the volatile Ron Artest, with the Kings already reportedly having started their rebuilding project by sending Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks. With all of these news, we might still be only scratching the surface. This is amazing!

It used to be that each trade deadline came and went without the slightest move being made. The last team that decided to take a gamble with any kind of significant in-season trade was the Detroit Pistons when they picked up Rasheed Wallace. Their reward for the move was an NBA title and the top eastern conference title contender tag for years.

It’s not like these moves spell success every time, but with such a tight race in the West certain teams knew they could not stand pat, and their moves will likely affect whatever the other teams are to do from now until the trade deadline.  Let us then examine the trades that have been made, and the ones that are highly likely as of right now:

1. Los Angeles Lakers – Memphis Grizzlies (key pieces: Pau Gasol – Kwame Brown).
Memphis have started rebuilding. Nothing proves that more than the fact that they practically gave up a true star, Gasol, for draft picks and a huge expiring contract. No matter how much they say they like Crittenton and the younger Gasol brother, neither one has any value at the moment. Meanwhile the Lakers have gone from perennial play-off team to title contender with this one shrewd move. Gasol’s arrival brings a true second star on this team to aid Kobe. What has seldom been pointed out however, is that it places Lamar Odom into a great position that suits his multitude of talents. He can now truly be the great glue guy on the court, the type of player who can just as easily explode for a bunch of points or dish out dozens of great passes whenever the team needs it.

2. Phoenix Suns – Miami Heat (key pieces: Shaq – Shawn Marion).
While much of the media has made this look like a bad move for Phoenix, I for one think that this was a great move for both sides. The Heat get Marion to team up with Dwyane Wade to form the most explosive duo in the East for some time to come, whilst the Suns finally will have a half-court game other than the highly predictable pick-and-roll they have been running for years now.

Why this makes it a good move for Phoenix? Essentially they are betting on this year and the next as being their window of opportunity for a championship. Steve Nash has been amazing, but he can’t keep this pace up forever. Shaq comes in as an expensive, high risk star, who might just be their missing link to a championship. Whilst the Matrix will be missed, his production can be somewhat reproduced by Grant Hill and Boris Diaw. Anyways, the Suns badly needed some kind of shakeup after having had some heartbreaking losses in the playoffs in the past.

3. Sacramento Kings – Atlanta Hawks (key pieces: Mike Bibby – Shelden Williams).
One might question which of these two teams needed this move more. The Kings have been without Bibby this season due to an injury. They have played rather well in his absence, with the emergence of Beno Udrih at point guard. Thus Bibby was expendable.

The Hawks needed a point guard and presto, now you have a trade. What this does is solidify Atlanta’s position in the Eastern play-offs and it gives some trading chips (most notably Tyronne Lue) and a promising big guy for the Kings. In my opinion, the Hawks have just become a must see act with the one-two punch of Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby, while the Kings are gradually giving the keys of the team to Kevin Martin.

4. Dallas Mavericks – New Jersey Nets (key pieces: Jason Kidd – Devin Harris).
It is funny that the biggest outright winner of this deal is not the teams, but a retired player. Keith Van Horn has never retired officially, which has allowed Dallas to sign him to a one year guaranteed deal worth around $2m. All he has to do presumably is make it to one Nets practice and he collects the dough.

On a serious side, the Mavs wanted to keep pace with Phoenix and Los Angeles, so they got their own veteran superstar, Jason Kidd. A great move for the Mavs, and they did not give up all that much to make it happen. This of course was a nice move by the Nets as well, who can now pair Richard Jefferson and Devin Harris as a young talented combo in a weaker conference. My guess is the Nets are working vehemently to get a deal going that would get Vince Carter out of town ASAP.

5. Denver Nuggets – Sacramento Kings (key pieces: Ron Artest – Linas Kleiza) (rumored deal).
The Kings’ house cleaning continues with a bad seed clearout this time. Artest has been heavily recruited by the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony as the missing link to their title hopes. Meanwhile the Kings would definitely welcome the talent that Kleiza brings. The deal would probably need additional players to make the numbers work.

And I’m still pretty sure this is barely scratching the surface of all the negotiations going on right now amongst the 32 GMs in the league.