NBA Trade Grades

While most of the attention around the NBA was focused on the draft this week, the draft, like usual, was far from the biggest story in the NBA.

Draft week has always been known as the unofficial start of the offseason for the NBA, and this week was no exception. While there was surely some breakout stars and diamonds in the rough drafted on Thursday, it's far too early to predict who had the best and worst drafts on Thursday. It usually takes years before we know who got it right and who didn't on draft night. It always cracks me up to read immediate reaction to the draft because no one has any idea if these players can actually translate their game to the highest level, myself included.

The best part of the NBA draft is the flurry of trading that happens in the days right before and right after the draft. We don't know how adding an unproven rookie to a team will affect the upcoming season, but when a team adds a superstar via trade during draft week, it is much easier to evaluate how that player might fit in.

With that in mind, I've decided to put a twist on the usual draft day report cards you will see and grade some of the biggest trades that went down this week in the NBA.

Shaq to the Cavs: C+

John Q. Basketball Fan might have been blown away by this one because of the star power that is associated with Shaq, but I'm not buying it.

Let's face it: the Cavs won 66 games last season, so there isn't much room for improvement to begin with. The obvious issue that Cleveland needs to overcome is getting past Orlando in the playoffs.

At a glance, adding a center with Shaq's size seems to be the right move to slow down Dwight Howard, who had a monster of a series against the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals. Shaq is bigger and stronger than any of the options Cleveland had to throw at Howard this postseason. If Orlando decides to only use Dwight Howard 6-10 feet from the basket, then yes, this trade will be an upgrade for the Cavs.

However, Orlando is not that dumb. The Magic are the definition of a pick-and-roll team. If Stan Van Gundy is smart, and based on his postseason coaching performance this year, I think it's safe to say that he is, he'll pick on Shaq in the pick-and-roll game for an entire series just like Larry Brown and the Pistons did in the 2004 NBA Finals.

If you remember, the Pistons ran nothing but high pick-and-rolls, using Shaq's man as the screener, and abused the Lakers for five straight games. Shaq was too big and too slow to defend the pick and roll 25 feet from the basket. That was five years ago. I can't imagine the Diesel has improved his lateral quickness with age.

From an Xs and Os standpoint, the trade seems like nothing more than a lateral move for the Cavs. They gain some interior defense and lose some perimeter defense. Offensively, they have someone that they can pound the ball inside to, but that means they'll also have someone in there clogging the middle and getting in LeBron's way.

But what worries me most about this trade has nothing to do with Xs and Os. I know I'm probably not the first think of this, but if the Cavs and Lakers end up meeting in the NBA Finals next season, the media is going to have a field day with Kobe vs. Shaq in the NBA Finals.

LeBron James, despite the fact that he will clearly be the only reason Cleveland advances to the Finals if they make it that far, will have to take a backseat to the Big Buckeye (or whatever Shaq will have dubbed himself by then) once they get to the biggest stage. Is forcing LeBron to take second billing in the NBA Finals behind an aging ex-superstar really the last image you want to give him before he can opt out of his contract and sign elsewhere?

I'm not necessarily saying this trade is a disaster for Cleveland, they basically gave up nothing and got an all-star in return, but it's certainly a risk-reward move. And my first impression: the risks outweigh the rewards.

Richard Jefferson to the Spurs: A-

I love this trade for the Spurs for a few reasons. First of all, it gives the Spurs a dependable full-time scorer to start alongside Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. How many times did we see this postseason where Parker and Duncan would score like 22 of the team's 24 points in the first quarter, and just not have enough left in the tank in the second half to play at that pace?

Richard Jefferson has averaged 17.8 points per game for his career, and hasn't missed a game over the past two seasons. With Duncan, Ginobili, and even Parker needing to be sidelined with injury last season, it became obvious that the Spurs needed more than just three players who can score when one of the guys was out. They added someone in Jefferson who may not be a superstar, but he's exactly the kind of player the Spurs needed this season to compete in the West.

The second reason I loved this trade is because R.C. Buford manipulated his roster perfectly to get Jefferson. By trading Bruce Bowen, Fabrico Oberto, and Kurt Thomas, he was basically giving up salaries to make the trade work. He knows that the teams he's dealing with, Detroit and Milwaukee, are in transition and have no desire to keep these aging players on their roster.

Once those teams buy out Bowen and Oberto, and possibly even Thomas, the Spurs will have the option of resigning them at a discounted rate. Essentially, the Spurs have the option if they so choose to add Richard Jefferson and his 18 points per game to the exact same roster they had last season and keep a nearly identical payroll.

It's savvy moves like this that has quietly made R.C. Buford one of the best executives in basketball for the past decade and the Spurs have the hardware to prove it.

Vince Carter to the Magic: B+

No team rolled the dice more than Orlando in the trade market this week. They gave up a key young piece to their puzzle in Courtney Lee, as well as Rafer Alston and Tony Battie, to get Vince Carter and his massive salary.

The trade basically signals the end of the Hedo Turkoglu era in Orlando, an era which may have ended with the Magic not getting anything in return had they not pulled the trigger on this deal.

And while there are plenty of people out there who love Hedo's game, as you will see when he inexplicably gets $10 million per year to play for a bad team next week, I'm not one of them. He's a solid player, but his presence forces Rashard Lewis, the Magic's second best player, to play out of position. Lewis is built like a small forward, plays like a small forward, yet had to play power forward because the Magic needed to play Hedo at small forward.

Now the Magic have added another lethal scoring option in Carter, and cleared the way for Lewis to play his more natural position.

I'm giving this trade a B+ for now, but if the Magic sign a capable power forward, Rasheed Wallace's name keeps coming up, then this move becomes an A.

Of course, that is assuming Vince tries this season and stays healthy. I know that's asking a lot from him, but like I said, it was a roll of the dice.

Darko to the Knicks: A++++

I'm excited for Darko in the Garden more than any other subplot of the 2009-10 season. Knicks fans booed Larry Hughes less than five minutes after making his Garden debut. I'm almost giddy to see the venom that will be spewed from the rafters at Darko and his laissez faire approach to basketball. Thank you, basketball gods.

Amar'e Stoudemire to the Warriors: Incomplete

The last big trade possibility that came out of draft night was the possible trade that would send Amar'e to the Warriors.

On the one hand, Stoudemire's immense offensive talent coupled with his lack of commitment on defense makes him quite possibly the best fit for Nellie-ball out of any player in the NBA.

On the other hand, Stoudemire is on the last year of his contract and the proposed deal that would send Andris Biedrins, Brandon Wright, Marco Belinelli, and possibly Steph Curry is way too much to give up for a one-year rental.

Amar'e isn't going to put the Warriors into elite status this season, and if there's no guarantee that he'll re-sign with the team, this becomes a very short-sighted trade on Golden State's part.

If the Warriors can reach an agreement to extend Stoudemire into a long-term deal, then I like the trade, but the jury is still out on this one.

With the free agency period starting up this week, it is likely that we could have a few more blockbusters to add to this list before it's all said and done. Still, the NBA offseason is off to an intriguing start. Let's hope that once players start signing on July 8th that this trend continues.

Check back at Sports Central every Monday for Scott Shepherd's weekly NBA column. You can also follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/scottosports.