NBA Trades.

I know I'm late doing this but this is the first chance I have had to put my thoughts together on all the big deals that took place at the deadline.

First off I think it's great the GM's decided to finally start making big moves again after years of not doing anything. And for that we can thank Mr. Kevin Garnett for bolting a terrible situation in Minnesota (here is a guy who left the one team he played for his whole career for the right reasons. Kevin McHale makes John Ferguson Jr. look like Louie Lam in New Jersey) and starting the domino effect.

On to the teams in contention:

- I don't like the Mavs picking up Jason Kidd at all. I'm not sure I would have traded him straight up for Devin Harris straight up right now. Sure Kidd is still a good point guard but he is at his best on the fast break and the Mavs don't run. On top of that his jump shot is completely gone and he never really had one to start with. And that means the Mavs don't match up with the Suns as well as they might have because Nash doesn't have to defend Kidd on the perimeter the way he would have Harris and won't be worn down because Kidd isn't quick.

Kidd can still play but he is the sixth best point guard in the west right now. Don't believe me? Would you take Kidd over Nash, Parker, Paul, Deron Williams or Baron Davis (you could thrown Iverson in their too if you consider him a point guard)? No you wouldn't. He should have gone to the Cavs.

- The Cavs picking up Ben Wallace, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak doesn't really help them that much on paper. It does however, make LeBron very happy which will make them better. Don't get me wrong though, any time you can get rid of an underachieving guy like Larry Hughes and get talent in return you do it. The real problem here isn't the Cavs lack of a point guard because LeBron is essentially a point forward at the end of games (which is why his game reminds me more of Pippen than Jordan. More on that another day), but a problem of perimeter defense. I already thought the Cavs could beat the Pistons, and with the addition of Wallace they will beat the Pistons if they face them because Wallace hates his old team, but I wasn't sure they could beat the Celtics (who in turn can't beat the Pistons) and now I am less confident. West and Wally can shoot but they are not great defenders and their slow on the perimeter. That means Ray Allen shooting 3's and Paul Pierce hitting 16-18 footers could destroy the Cavs.

Then again LeBron is so damn good he may just carry them to the Finals again. It wouldn't surprise anybody.

- Everybody thinks the Lakers are the team to beat and I guess I can see why with Kobe being the best player in the league and also being the most competitive. He will be lights out in the playoffs. I just think his help is about a year away. I am really not ready to trust Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol in huge playoff situations. The west is too loaded to have Kobe carry them through himself.

- The Suns will be fine once they figure out that Shaq doesn't need to touch the ball every time down the court. He's already said that in timeouts too. He knows his role and by the playoffs the rest of the Suns will know his role too. That's why I say they are still the 2nd best team in the league.

- The common complaint about the Spurs was that they didn't do much at the deadline to keep up with the Mavs and Spurs. Well that's because the Mavs and Spurs were trying to keep up with the Spurs. The Spurs will be healthy come playoff time and with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili they still have the best top three in the league. Picking up Kurt Thomas though was genius. He can battle Shaq down low 20 minutes a game but more importantly he can hit a 13 foot jumper, which means teams can't double down on Duncan as often. I still say they will win it again.

- The Jazz and Hornets didn't make big moves because they didn't really need too either. The Hornets are stacked and the Chris Paul/Tyson Chandler combo is scary. I just think they are a year or two away. The NBA seems to be a league where you need to lose before you are ready to win. The Jazz though are ready now. I honestly think they are the third best team in the west if not second ahead of the Suns. They having everything together and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they came out of the west.

- The Rockets are screwed without Yao and will miss the playoffs. There is now way Tracy McGrady can get them there himself. I know that happened after the deadline but it was worth noting.