Worst NBA Trade of 2008?

For sure, the days (and hours) leading up to the February NBA trade deadline were exciting, especially to nerds like me who enjoy trades and front office stuff as much (or more, sometimes) than the actual games. Just about every team in contention in the West and a few in the East made moves to shore up their rosters before the year-end push. Who won and who lost this flurry of trading? Lets take a look, two weeks after the fact.

SAN ANTONIO
Trade: SA gets Kurt Thomas from Seattle for Francisco Elson, Brent Barry and 2009 first round pick

Result: San Antonio is doing what they always do: wait until everyone thinks they are out of it and then come from nowhere to win everything. They did it last year and they're doing it again. While everyone is distracted with the LA's and Jason Kidd trades, the Spurs just keep cranking out wins. I don't know if Kurt Thomas will be the reason, but San Antonio will do just fine going into the playoffs.

On The Other Side: Seattle has Kevin Durant. I actually didn't know they had any other players. I thought the team folded up after Gary Payton left and then started back this year. My bad.

PHOENIX
Trade: PHX gets Shaquille O'Neal from Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks

Result: Phoenix has just gone down the crapper, haven't they? You'd think bringing Shaq to a team would help them out, especially when Marion seems to have been poison to the Suns chemistry, but you'd be wrong. Since the trade, Phoenix is 6-6 and desperately trying to miss the playoffs. I think someone convinced Phoenix management that Shaq would intimidate other teams into respecting the Suns down low, but instead they just push his old ass around. He's only good for like 20 minutes a game, and Marion's defense is sorely missed. I'd say Phoenix is the loser of the trades this year.

On The Other Side: Miami is just hurting, period. Marion couldn't help too much or hurt too much either. He's a good player and will be around longer than Shaq would. As long as the Heat can keep Wade in Miami, they'll be fine from this trade. If they can't, then the countdown begins until Marion demands a trade from South Beach.

ATLANTA
Trade: ATL gets Mike Bibby from Sacramento for Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright and a 2008 second round draft

Result: Who cares? Atlanta isn't in the race, and neither is Sacramento, so this trade was pretty much worthless. However, it is always nice to see a team abandon their first round draft picks so early (Sheldon Williams), especially when the loser in question is from Duke. Priceless.

On The Other Side: It's Sacramento. I have no idea.

DALLAS
Trade: DAL gets Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright from New Jersey for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager, Keith Van Horn, a pair of draft picks and cash

Result: Still uncertain. Some Mavs fans think it was brilliant, and some are still mourning the loss of Devin Harris. The Mavs are 4-4 since the trade, but that has to be looked at a little more closely. The 4 teams they beat were MEM, MIN, CHI, and SAC (not the strongest) and the teams they lost to were NO, SA, LAL, and UTA (some of the strongest). The question is: would Dallas have won any of the games the lost without Jason Kidd? In some instances, he kept them in the game. My opinion is that the Jason Kidd trade will end up being a good thing for Mavs fans, but it might not be enough to bring the ring they all want. And that's not Kidd's fault, but simply a result of the West this year. Too strong.

On The Other Side: NJ is happy with Harris. The kid scored a ton of points his first game there. He's not really a point guard, but Vince Carter isn't really either, so they'll confuse each other and score 150 points per game for years to come.

HOUSTON
Trade: Houston gets Gerald Green from Minnesota for Kirk Snyder, a 2010 second-round pick and cash

Results: Doesn't matter. Green won't play for Houston. Everyone thought Houston might be finished when Yao went down, but they've won like 20 games straight without him, so everyone might be wrong. I'd have serious doubts in a coach who messed with the chemistry Houston has going on right now. He won a slam dunk contest, though, so it can only be good to have him coming off the bench, right?

On The Other Side: I haven't paid attention to Minnesota since the KG trade. They play Rashad McCants, my least favorite basketball player ever. I won't even watch their games. So I don't know.

LA LAKERS
Trade: LA gets Pau Gasol from Memphis for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Marc Gasol, and first round picks in 2008 and 2010

Result: LA would seem to be the favorite among many in the press to win the West now. Kobe just needed a big man to keep him happy, and a hurt Andrew Bynum wasn't cutting it. Now, if Bynum comes back relatively healthy, they really could be a force in the West come May.

On The Other Side: I guess Memphis was happy with the trade, but at this point, who really knows? Rudy Gay is their "franchise player" whenever he decides to show up, and they are still trying to trade Mike Miller. Any team that boasts Hakeem Warrick as one of their top 3 players is in serious trouble.

CLEVELAND-CHICAGO
Trade: CHI gets Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons from Cleveland for Joe Smith, Ben Wallace and Chicago’s 2009 regular second round pick. Seattle also got someone, but whatever.

Result: This trade is pretty balanced. I've never been a Ben Wallace fan, but he'll help Lebron in Cleveland, and Gooden and Hughes will help Gordon, Heinrich, and Deng in Chicago. I don't think either of these teams particularly hurt or helped their chances to win it all; all the major pieces (Lebron, Deng) stayed in place, and they could fluctuate a little up or down, but this wasn't really a major trade to watch, regardless of how many players moved.

On The Other Side: Already did it. Read above, moron.

BOSTON
Trade: Sam Cassell bought out by Milwaukee and sign with Celtics

Result: Unknown. This isn't really a trade, but it affects one of the top teams in the NBA, so I included it. Cassell is a true point, which Boston doesn't have, but they've brought Rajon Rondo a loooooong way this season. I could see this hurting Rondo's development by showing a lack of confidence in the young guard. Cassell's got like 1 year left and Rondo is the future; do they really want to basically tell him that they don't think he can take them all the way? He might not like that too much.

On The Other Side: No other side. Milwaukee just blows.