As another NBA trade deadline passes us by, some teams walk away after making deals that put them in a position to win games while others make trades that are purely salary dumps. As we inch closer to the 2010 offseason, also known as “The Summer of LeBron,” many teams are getting ready to make a run at landing the league’s top player. Even if these teams are not able to land “The King,” they can still settle for a consolation prize of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, or one of many other stars in what looks to be the best free-agency class in the history of the sport. So while it may look like these teams got ripped off now, time will tell whether or not they made a good deal. Until then, the only winners and losers are teams that made good or bad deals that were not salary dumps, or teams that remained inactive. For the salary dumpers, a new group must be created. Let’s call them the “If we don’t land LeBron, we’re screwed” group.

Starting with the winners,

WINNERS:

Cleveland Cavaliers
I wonder what’s more important to Cavs fans, winning a championship this year or keeping LeBron in town next year and beyond. I bet most of them would choose the latter. In an effort to make both come true, the Cavs completed a trade that brought in the perfect player for their system, Antawn Jamison. Despite his performance in his Cavs’ debut (0-12 shooting from the field), Jamison is just what the Cavs needed. He is a stretch 4 who can both score and play inside. Add this to the fact that the Cavs really only gave up a first-round pick in the deal (Zydrunas Ilgauskas will be bought out by the Wizards and return to the Cavs shortly) and this is a deal that can only help Cleveland. Well, unless they don’t win a championship and LeBron packs up and leaves town. In this worst-case-scenario, Cleveland would be stuck with Jamison, his big contract, Mo Williams, and not much else. However, GM Danny Ferry knew that acquiring Jamison is his best chance at keeping LeBron so he pulled the trigger on this one. All Ferry can do now is hope that Jamison helps Cleveland win a title and convince LeBron to stay. If this doesn’t happen, then we are in for one hell of an offseason.

Dallas Mavericks

In a deal that was made a few days before the deadline, while the city of Dallas was hosting the most hyped and possibly most disappointing All-Star Weekend in league history, the team itself made a trade that puts them in much better position to win a title. The Mavericks acquired Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson and cash for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton. Butler and Howard have similar numbers, but Howard was becoming a headache too big to handle in Dallas and the Mavs desperately wanted to get rid of him. Not only do they get a guy in Butler who is as good as if not better than Howard, but they also get a very strong defensive center in Haywood (who just became much more important following the injury to Erick Dampier). Gooden was a good defender and rebounder, but Haywood is better and will help more against the other powerhouses out west. Ross and Singleton were barely role players and Stevenson is a guy who, if given enough playing time, can be a valuable contributor on a contender. While this trade doesn’t make Dallas better than the Lakers or make them the favorites to win the West, it definitely brings them closer to winning a title.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets were part of the deadline’s biggest trade, a 3-team deal that shipped out Tracy McGrady and brought in Kevin Martin. They also stand as the only winners in the deal. The Rockets were able to obtain sharp-shooting 2 guard Kevin Martin in an effort to build for the future while staying strong in the present. In Martin the Rockets get the scorer they have needed ever since McGrady went down with multiple injuries and puts them in a great position to contend for a playoff spot this year and be even better next year once Yao Ming returns. Losing Carl Landry will hurt, but gaining Martin will outweigh that. Plus, by taking on the final year of Jared Jeffries’ contract, the Rockets were able to pry away 3 first-round picks from the Knicks. Houston gets the 8th overall pick from last year’s draft (Jordan Hill) as well as the right to swap picks with the Knicks in 2011 (top 5 protected) and also their first rounder in 2012 (number one overall protected). GM Daryl Morey robbed 2 teams in this trade.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics also robbed the Knicks, acquiring high-flying point guard and 3-time Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry for Eddie House, J.R. Giddens, and Bill Walker. Robinson is the scorer off the bench the Celtics desperately needed and they get it for next to nothing. Giddens and Walker are bench warmers and House is a nice role player, but Robinson is better and gives the Celtics more of what they need. A few weeks ago I met Celtics coach Doc Rivers and asked him if a rumor about the Celtics being interested in acquiring Robinson was true. As a Knicks fan, I hoped he would say no. He didn’t, proclaiming that “he was going to steal Nate from us (Knicks fans) very soon.” He wasn’t kidding, especially about the stealing part.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers front court was absolutely decimated by injuries to centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla. So, GM Kevin Pritchard went out and acquired center Marcus Camby from the Clippers for Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. Camby is a risk because he is very injury prone, but the Blazers needed to make this deal because their frontcourt has been bad as of late, and that may be an understatement. If Camby is healthy, he gives the Blazers exactly what they need, a strong defensive center. If not, all they really gave up was an injured guy in Outlaw who they d under-used and was going to walk away anyway in 4 months, and a should be backup point guard. If the Blazers have any chance of competing in the West, they need a solid center, and now they have one.

Memphis Grizzlies

In a deal that flew very far under the radar, the Grizzlies acquired shooting guard Ronnie Brewer from the Jazz for a protected first round pick in 2011. Brewer is an excellent defender and improves an awful bench on a team that is actually contending for a playoff spot.

Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats, who are currently battling for their first-ever playoff spot, picked up athletic forward Tyrus Thomas from the Bulls in exchange for Acie Law, Flip Murray, and a future first round pick. While the success of this deal hinges very much on whether or not Larry Brown can get through to Thomas, I think he can and if Thomas plays to his potential, he will be a great addition for the Bobcats.

LOSERS:

Phoenix Suns

Amazingly, none of the teams that actually made trades can even be considered losers at this point. All of the teams that would normally be considered losers will all be in on the action this offseason so it cannot yet be determined whether or not they won or lost. More to come on these teams later on.
The only real losers at this deadline are the teams that didn’t make deals. Both the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat seemed to be in a position where they needed to make a deal, but neither pulled the trigger. Once again, despite the whirlwind rumors surrounding him, Amar’e Stoudemire remained a Sun. While the offers for Amar’e may not have been great, they were better than the nothing Phoenix receives when Amar’e bolts this summer. He is not staying in Phoenix. And GM Steve Kerr blew his chance at gaining something for the star forward.

Miami Heat

Another team that needed to make a deal was the Miami Heat. The Heat are looking at a suture that depends a lot on whether or not Dwyane Wade stays in South Beach or leaves for either New York or Chicago. By not making a deal for a player that is worthy of convincing Wade to stay (cough, Amar’e, cough) the Heat did nothing and now can only hope and pray Wade stays. If he leaves, they are in a really bad spot, left with Michael Beasley and not much else.
(Note: the Utah Jazz are not on this list of losers because even though Carlos Boozer will most likely be leaving the team in the summer, the Jazz are playing very well right now and believe they can win Jerry Sloan his first title. Utah’s reluctance to trade their start forward is the smart move. Phoenix’s was not because they are not going to win it all this year.)

TO BE DETERMINED (aka, the “if we don’t land LeBron, we’re screwed” group)

Yes! We’ve finally reached the most fun and confusing group of them all. Each of these teams had a higher priority than winning when making their trades, and in a few months we will finally get to see which ones it worked out for. Let’s start with the biggest salary dumpers of the last few years.

New York Knicks
When Donnie Walsh took over as president, he made his master plan very public. He was going to pretty much forfeit two seasons in order to set the Knicks up to land LeBron. Nobody thought he would be able to do it, not with the awful collection of contracts Isiah Thomas left behind. Well, Walsh was able to get rid of all but one (apparently there aren’t enough future first round picks in the world to convince someone to take Eddy Curry out of New York, or wherever he is right now). The Knicks have been involved in many salary dumping deals over the last 2 years and Thursday’s blockbuster was no different. The Knicks gave up a lot to get rid of Jeffries and put them in position to offer 2 max contracts, but if all works out the way they want it to, then it may not be too bad after all. The Knicks did add Tracy McGrady, but at this point in his career it does not look like there is much T-Mac can contribute anymore, especially to such a bad team. Besides, even in the case he is great for the Knicks, he will leave in the summer for more money than they will offer and if he doesn’t do well then they won’t offer him a decent contract anyway. In either scenario, McGrady will not be back in New York next year and he is simply a rental on a large expiring contract. The dark horse in this deal is Sergio Rodriguez. He seems to be the perfect point guard for Mike D’Antoni and will be given enough time to audition with the Knicks and see if he could be their point guard of the future. The other deal the Knicks made (giving away Nate Robinson) does not make much sense at all. Yes, the Knicks saved some money in luxury tax, but this cannot be good for their ticket sales. Who are fans more likely to pay to see, the exciting fan-favorite Nate, or 3-point shooter and classy veteran bench player Eddie House? That’s what I thought. Regardless, it all comes down to the summer for the Knicks. They have been preparing for this for a while now and all they can do is hope that LeBron believes playing in New York along another superstar and not much else is enough to leave the strong team Cleveland has built for and around him. Donnie Walsh can only hope that his entire plan works out and that his next decision will be who to sign to play next to LeBron and not who to sign because he is gone.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers are somehow one of the most attractive landing spots for a top free agent. A great market and city to play in? Check. A nice core of players to work with? Check. The ability to have a say in your head coach? Check. The potential ability to steal a city from one of the most despised teams in the world of sports? Yup, they have that too. The Clippers have managed to work their way far enough under the cap to offer a max contract this summer. Looks like GM Mike Dunleavy finally did something right for the team. Unless he uses the money to give a max contract to Paul Millsap. Wait, did I just give him an idea? If so, then I am (kind of) sorry Clippers fans. Odds are he won’t, however, leaving the money for LeBron if he wants it. I doubt he comes to the Clippers, but it sure would be fun to see him and Kobe share a city and building. If LeBron doesn’t come to LA, the money will be on the table for Wade if he wants it and perhaps Bosh. If not, the Clippers could sign a second-tier free agent, a few role players and suddenly have a nice roster to work with. How does a group of Baron Davis-Blake Griffin-Eric Gordon-Chris Kaman and LeBron/Wade/Bosh/Johnson/Boozer/etc. sound to Clippers fans? Pretty good is my guess. As for the rest of the league? Pretty scary. Watch out for the Clippers. Their salary dumps of Al Thornton and Sebastian Telfair as well as the acquisition on potential sign-and-trade candidate Outlaw put them in a prime position to be contenders in 2010-11. Really? The Clippers? Did I just say that? Yes…I did…well, uh, look out for them. This feels weird.

Sacramento Kings

Ok Kings fans, calm down. Relax. I know this trade seems like the end of the world, really, I do. However, after looking at it for a little while (maybe a long while) it’s not as bad as it seems. Kevin Martin was a great player for the Kings and they will miss him, but maybe not as much as is seems. The ugly truth is that a combination of him and Tyreke Evans would not work out. One of them had to go, and that ended up being Martin because he does not have nearly as high of a ceiling as Evans does. In his place the Kings get cap relief (Larry Hughes, Joey Dorsey) and a solid post player (Carl Landry). Landry will fit in very well on this team, giving them some toughness down low that they sorely need. Plus it puts them in position to sign a start free-agent to a max contract this summer. While it is highly, HIGHLY unlikely that LeBron comes to Sacramento, it is not too much of a stretch to see the Kings land someone along the lines of a Joe Johnson. The truth of the matter is that the Kings will not have their choice this summer because of the market they are in, but when stars run out of places to sign, the money will point them right to Sacramento. While this may not be perfect for the Kings, it is better than what they had going into the deal, which was a bad team led by two guards who would never work well together. The Kings appear to have made a good deal, just as long as they do not mess it up and that is unlikely.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls made two separate deals at the deadline, with only one having implications on their summer plans. In the other, they acquired a future first round pick, but they also gave up on Tyrus Thomas and effectively admitted that they made a mistake when drafting him ahead of Brandon Roy in 2006. As for the one that did matter, the bulls found a taker for John Salmons in the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander. It is a decent deal for the Bucks and it improves them a little but not enough to be relevant. For the Bulls, it helps clear up some more cap space so they can pursue LeBron/Wade/Bosh. They will most likely land one, if not two, of these stars, which when added to a young core of Derrick Rose-Luol Deng-Joakim Noah would form a very nice squad in the Windy City. This trade sets them up to soon be contenders for the first time since Michael Jordan left in 1998 (Wow, has it really been that long? It has been to Bulls fans) and that has to have Bulls fans excited which has to count for something, doesn’t it?

THE SOME PEOPLE MAY SAY THEY HATE GUNS, BUT WE REALLY, REALLY HATE GUNS FOR AT LEAST 95 MILLION REASONS Group

Washington Wizards

Goodbye Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, hello headache that is Josh Howard and potential headache that is Al Thornton (it sometimes seems like the guy thinks the only thing he is allowed to do is shoot). Is it too late to put a “no gun” clause in Gilbert Arenas’ contract? It is? Oh, too bad.