Breaking Down The Trades

With a handful of trades officially completed, and with a bevy of free agents about to find new digs, Wednesday marked the official beginning of the 2008 offseason. Before the handful of premium free agents sign official deals to don new uniforms, a slew of trades were completed between draft day and Wendesday afternoon.

Let's recap the action with grades for each team's decisions:

Milwaukee

The Bucks acquired Richard Jefferson on draft day for expensive damaged goods in Bobby Simmons and a risky project in Yi Jianlin. Jefferson can score from anywhere on the court, passes well, rebounds some, and is an upper-tier defender. If his overall talent level is a notch below a “franchise-player” tiered status, he compensates by being capable in a lot of different areas. No doubt the professional Jefferson will endear himself to Scott Skiles’ madcap coaching style.

Also, making the move for Jefferson signifies that the Bucks are interested in winning now, and the presence of R.J. will likely mean less minutes for the ball-gorging Charlie Villanueva. Yi looks like a subpar NBA player, and Bobby Simmons’ confidence is shot. Parlaying those two into Jefferson makes the Bucks legit playoff contenders.

Grade: A

New Jersey

The Nets' firesale continues with Richard Jefferson shipped out for Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian. If Simmons can conjure up some of the success he had in Clipperville, he’ll be a capable, if erratic, baseline scorer who can take the pressure off of Vince Carter. Of more concern to the Nets is Simmons’ expiring contract, which comes off the books in two years.

Yi is too soft and fragile to be anything more than an oversized jump shooter. But since he’s young and talented, and since the Nets aren’t going anywhere, New Jersey will see if they can coax a few more pounds of muscle and a killer instinct out of Yi.

Not a bad trade, but for a player like Jefferson, couldn’t the Nets acquire a young player a little bit more NBA-ready than Jianlian?

Grade: B

Minnesota

Acquiring Mike Miller gives the Timberpuppies the long-range bomber and perimeter scorer du jour that will provide unlimited spacing for Al Jefferson inside. If Kevin Love is the high-post passer and mid-range shooter he’s reputed to be, then his presence should also allow Jefferson ample room to operate. Jason Collins will set screens, rebound, defend, and instruct Jefferson and Love on the intangibles of being an NBA big. The T-Wolves also disposed of two awful contracts in Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker while taking on Brian Cardinal’s bad contract.

From the 76ers, Minny acquired a protected future first-round draft pick, a potential scorer in Rodney Carney, and a mostly useless veteran in Calvin Booth for just a second round draft pick and trade exception.

Minnesota got a lot more talented after the trade while still retaining roster flexibility. While they still need more scorers, role players, and athletes, the T-Wolves clearly have a plan and know what they’re doing.

Grade: A-

Memphis

It’s doubtful Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker see a millisecond of meaningful playing time in Memphis. While O.J. Mayo gives the Grizzlies another guard, Memphis is still too thin to up front to matter. At least trading Miller opens a lineup spot for the kind of pure athlete Chris Wallace and Mark Iavaroni salivate over. It’s doubtful Kevin Love would have made a difference, but the Grizzlies are still light years away.

Grade: D+

Philadelphia

Happy with their forwards, Calvin Booth and Rodney Carney became superfluous to the Sixers’ plans. Still, losing Carney leaves the Sixers with a shortage of backup wings.

Grade: C-

Toronto

While Jermaine O’Neal has the name and is a terrific scorer from the high post, he shares too many similar flaws with Chris Bosh. Each is too lean to be a stonewall defender, each is much more finesse than power, and neither solves Toronto’s profound lack of strength. Plus, O’Neal is one misstep out of bed from missing six months of the year.

Extirpating T.J. Ford makes Jose Calderon the unquestioned starter, but losing Rasho Nesterovic removes the only muscle north of the border. O’Neal’s presence certainly doesn’t make the Raptors worse, but it doesn’t make them appreciably better.

Grade: B-

Portland

Dealing away Jarrett Jack helps to clear up Portland’s somewhat muddled point guard situation, Jerryd Bayless could be the elite wing athlete Portland needs to ascend among the elite, and Ike Diogu should provide more power and interior scoring to complement Channing Frye’s soft jumper off the bench. A shrewd, low-risk, potentially high-reward deal pulled off by GM Kevin Pritchard.

Grade: A

Indiana

While Jermaine O’Neal is expensive and perpetually injured, is T.J. Ford the best the Pacers could have pulled off?

At least in dealing away O’Neal, the Pacers have fully immersed themselves in a total rebuilding process. Rasho Nesterovic will bang, bump, and bruise opponents, but he also operates a dependable right hook.

Ford is an upgrade over Jamaal Tinsely, but is too frail, too defenseless, and takes too many ill-advised jumpers to be a dependable point man. Still, with the Pacers operating with zero expectations, his fatal flaws won’t be as damning as if he were with a playoff squad. Expect Ford’s ripping and zipping to split defenses for open layups, lead to assist passes for open teammates, and lead the Pacers to a few more victories that otherwise would be unattained.

Jarrett Jack is too slow to be a starter, but is smart, tough, dependable, and the perfect complement to Ford. Who knows just how good Bayless and Brandon Rush are, or how their psyches will handle the NBA’s unique personal requirements?

Grade: B+