The NBA Trade Deadline's 10 Surprises

1. Stoudemire Stays 

For the last week, the only question concerning Amare Stoudemire was where he would be dealt.

The Suns decided to wait until the last possible minute, thinking teams would outbid each other for Stoudemire's services.

Instead, Cleveland got picky about including J.J. Hickson their offer (which would've made it worth it?), and jumped to snag Antawn Jamison. Miami was left without any competition, which led them to completely lowball Phoenix with an offer the Suns ultimately refused.

So now Phoenix and Amare are together through at least this season, while everyone else was busy making the big moves. The Suns are in trouble, as now their future is up to Amare's whims, and not their own.

If Stoudemire bolts, they won't have cap room (Nash and J-Rich's contracts) or draft picks (OKC has their 2010 pick) to make up for losing him.

2. Kings Accept a Pauper's Ransom

Carl Landry's a nice piece, and Larry Hughes' $14 mil coming off the books is good, but is that really all they could land for Kevin Martin, Sergio Rodriguez, Hilton Armstrong, and Kenny Thomas' expiring contract? No draft pick or another rotation player?

Obviously, Sacramento wanted to hand the keys over to Tyreke Evans, but it wasn't impossible for them to wait half a season for a better deal for a stud like Martin.

3. New York's Confidence for Summer of 2010

Knickerbocker fans were looking forward to this summer with optimism. Now they look at it with desperation.

If New York whiffs on Lebron, Wade, and Bosh, they screwed up. Period.

With Kevin Martin and Yao Ming (assuming he can come back, and if he can't, you don't think Rockets' GM Morey won't find a way to make them relevant?), the Rockets' pick won't be much consolation for New York—unlike their own picks, which they've sold for the next three years.

You can contest they can still get Joe Johnson and (a surgically repaired) Amare, but then D'Antoni's got his '05 Suns minus Nash and Marion...not promising.

4. Jordan's Savvy Move

This makes two in one year (see: Stephen Jackson), for all of you who dogged him for Kwame Brown (understandable at the time), Adam Morrison (hard to ignore those college stats) and not taking Brooke Lopez (inexcusable).

Tyrus Thomas is talented, but temperamental, and now he's going to the one coach who's going to fix that. The Bobcats needed Thomas to make up for Boris Diaw's back-and-forth play.

Now Charlotte has the bigs to at least make things interesting against the likes of Boston, Atlanta or Orlando come April.

5. Big Cities Get Big Cap Space

Lebron, Wade, and Bosh can now choose between Los Angeles (Clippers), New York, and Chicago this summer thanks to their salary-saving maneuvers.

New York got rid of Jared Jeffries while snagging T-Mac's contract at the expense of their draft picks, the Clippers sacrificed young stud Al Thornton, and Chicago dumped John Salmons to get Derrick Rose a better running mate.

Talk about loyalty all you want, but the respective calls of those cities will be hard for the free agent crop to ignore.

6. Houston's Grand-Theft

I'm shocked Sacramento and New York didn't step back and say, "Wait, you're getting way more out of this than us!"

Morey was able to convert an expensive non-player (McGrady) and a sixth man (Landry) into two valuable draft picks, a former lottery pick who needs playing time (Jordan Hill), a real big for Houston (Hilton Armstrong), and a top-ten scorer (Kevin Martin).

He should be named GM of the year. The end.

7. Buyer/Seller Trades

Take a look at the trades that went down, and you'll see not a single one was a basketball trade.

Teams were either willing to take on contracts to get better, or sell off contracts in hopes of getting lucky down the road. They simply found each other and made a deal.

It's a shame, because the fans of one team in each deal is saying, "Why would we do this?" today. Teams will respond with optimism about this year's free agent crop.

At least half of them will have nothing to show for it. Just a prediction.

8. Heat's Half-Hearted Attempts to Placate Wade

From the moment Miami-Phoenix talks commenced, it was clear a third team would need to be involved for the Heat to get the guy they wanted.

Instead, Miami kept trying to shove crappy variations of their players/contracts in Phoenix's face...without offering even Michael Beasley as part of the package.

When the Suns sneered at their approach, Miami tried a last-minute approach to pry Carlos Boozer from the Jazz. Too bad Washington's assets were all traded by that point and no workable deal could be realized.

It makes you wonder how hard Miami was trying to keep Wade happy...or if it was all a front and they think he'll stay this summer.

9. Bulls Bullish on Making Big Move

Yeah, they moved Tyrus Thomas, but they could've done more both for now and the future with Brad Miller's expiring contract and getting either Luol Deng or Kirk Hinrich's contracts off the books.

Hinrich was almost impossible to move, but a Deng/Miller combo would have been appealing with Deng's talent and Miller's contract.

Deng and Miller to Boston for Ray Allen's expiring contract would've given them outside shooting for now (desperately needed), and even more cap room for later (possibly two max free agents instead of one).

10. Mike Brown Not Certain About Starting Jamison

This is absurd. Jamison is the first guy who can be a legit Robin to Lebron's batman (Mo Williams is not that guy), and you're not sure if you want to start him?

J.J. Hickson has improved, but you don't start him over Jamison, a 20-10 guy who can make up for Shaq clogging the middle.