NBA Trade Deadline: Power Ranking the Teams in the Eastern Conference
Here we go. With the trade deadline passed, there will be little change to rosters from now until the end of the season, meaning we're looking at the teams that will fight for the Eastern Conference Championship.
One major player, the Boston Celtics, surprisingly made a move. Miami, Chicago and Orlando did not. Cleveland, New York, New Jersey and more made moves. Some suggest that power has finally shifted to the East from the West.
But after the shakeups in East rosters, what will the shake up be in the East power rankings?
Here are the post-trade deadline power rankings.
15. Cleveland Cavaliers
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I wonder if Baron Davis had that car from the Slam Dunk Contest ready for a road trip to Cleveland? It's only about a 37 hour drive from Los Angeles to his new home.
Davis is a better player than both Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. The Cavs made a tremendous trade picking up Davis and an unprotected first-round draft pick.
But it doesn't help them a ton right now, not that anything would. The roster needs to be blown up and this was a perfect first step. Picking up Sehih Erden and Luke Harangody—two proven second-round picks—from Boston for a second round pick was a prudent move as well.
14. Toronto Raptors
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Chris Bosh's value is going up and up as the Toronto Raptors go down and down. However, that was a great win over the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night.
Toronto didn't really enter the trade talk buzz. There just isn't much on the Raptor roster that drew any interest. Toronto is satisfied to look to the future and use their cap space next season to restructure.
13. Washinton Wizards
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Mike Bibby for Kirk Hinrich? That's close to a push. Hinrich's numbers are a bit better. Atlanta needed to make a move and this was a safe one.
Maurice Evans and Jordan Crawford—for all his secret dunks over LeBron James—are only small contributors to Atlanta. Hilton Armstrong was a throw-in that has upside.
The Wizards got a little bit better. And they trade an expiring contract in Armstrong for less than $1 million for one in Evans that is greater than $2 million.
12. Detroit Pistons
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DEEE-TROOOIT BAS-KET-BALL isn't what fans want it to be.
At the end of the trade window, both Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince stayed in Detroit as the Pistons made no moves despite constant rumors swirling around the team for months.
That's not good news for the immediate future. The Pistons are a struggling team going nowhere fast. But Detroit does have some expiring contracts—including that of Prince—that will free up some space next season.
11. Milwaukee Bucks
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The Milwaukee Bucks got some serious play in the highlights Wednesday night—because they were playing the new-look New York Knicks.
There isn't really more reason to look the Bucks way right now. Andrew Bogut leads the NBA in blocked shots, so...that's about it.
Hopefully Milwaukee can put it together one of these season. They've seemed close when Michael Redd was at his best but those days are gone.
10. New Jersey Nets
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Smart move by both the Utah Jazz and the New Jersey Nets. It's not clicking in Utah and Deron Williams was likely to jump ship next season anyway. With the trade the two teams executed, the Jazz essentially get three first-round picks—considering Derrick Favors was the third overall pick last season—and Devin Harris. A small market team like Utah has to build from within.
But this is about the Nets.
Williams is a significant upgrade over Harris at point guard. Harris isn't as big of a down grade for Utah. Does that even make sense? What I mean is that New Jersey can gain more with Williams than Utah will lose without him.
9. Charlotte Bobcats
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Charlotte may have traded away its playoff hopes. Of course, those hopes only really included one round, but isn't that better than none?
Gerald Wallace is headed to Portland for underachieving Joel Przybilla and backup Dante Cunningham as well as two first-round picks. This is a terrific move for the future of the Bobcats. Kudos, Michael Jordan. But it doesn't help now.
Charlotte also acquired D.J. White and the expiring contract of Morris Peterson from Oklahoma City for Nazr Mohammed.
8. Indiana Pacers
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Indiana was that close to landing O.J. Mayo. Apparently, the teams missed the deadline. Maybe it was the Pacers fault. Maybe the Grizzlies got cold feet.
Either way, Indiana ended up with its current roster. But that's a roster that's playing pretty well, winning nine out of their last 12.
The team is young and showing some of its promise. It might just slip into the playoffs.
7. Philadelphia 76ers
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As the trade deadline approached, it became more and more expected that Andre Iguodala would stay in Philly. The 76ers are climbing the Eastern Conference ladder, so they decided to keep their best player.
The 76ers have won 11 or their last 15 games, passing Indiana and having New York and Atlanta in their sights.
Philadelphia could end up as the fifth seed.
6. Atlanta Hawks
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Atlanta needed to do something. But Kirk Hinrich? Really? That's the answer? No, it's not. That's nothing against Hinrich, who is a solid guard and probably an upgrade to Mike Bibby at this point in Bibby's career.
It's a move that smells of desperation. Maybe the Hawks know what they're doing and will get the necessary boost to look like a 34-23 team again.
5. Orlando Magic
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It's now official: Dwight Howard's tenure with the Orlando Magic will not end in an NBA championship. Are the Magic really convinced that they didn't need another big man to provide an inside presence alongside Howard? Or was the market for big men that thin?
Orlando is slipping, just barely grasping to a Southwest division title. Lucky for them, Atlanta is slipping just as fast if not faster.
Orlando was once considered a legitimate title contender but not anymore.
4. New York Knicks
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It's tough not to like the look of Carmelo Anthony in that slick New York Knick uniform. He put up solid numbers in his debut: 27 points, 10 rebounds, 40 percent from the field.
This isn't to say that New York is suddenly an elite team in the East. But they are better than Atlanta and have as good of a shot as Orlando. The Knicks will need time to gel, with Anthony and Chauncey Billups acclimating to Mike D'Antoni's offense.
New York is a team of the future that can provide some ripples in the present.
3. Miami Heat
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Are the Heatles or Big Three or Miami Thrice enough? I don't think so. Just look at that record against Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio and the Lakers. It's now 1-7.
For the newbies, that's not very good.
Miami stood still at the trade deadline. If only Chris Bosh would have put up that 1-for-18 shooting performance a night earlier, he could have been on the block.
But seriously, this is a tremendous regular season team that doesn't have enough to get to the finals, let alone win them.
2. Chicago Bulls
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Whew, the Chicago Bulls look good. As scrappy and overachieving as they may have been, they now have the premier player in that department back from injury in Joakim Noah.
Noah is the x-factor for Chicago. It's hard to keep them out of the top spot. It really is, especially after its comeback win over the Heat Thursday night.
Derrick Rose for MVP? Yup.
1. Boston Celtics
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The Big Four is still intact. But what was with Boston shipping out its fifth, Kendrick Perkins? Apparently, with the Magic slipping, Boston doesn't see depth in the post as important. It still expects to have the towers O'Neal, Shaquille and Jermaine, back from injury for the playoffs.
But you have to wonder how much the addition of Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks and the presence of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the Heat had to do with the Celtics sending Perkins to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green.
Boston is No. 1 and Chicago is No. 1a.
