The NBA's trade deadline has come and gone, leaving many teams and their fans to figure out what they have left -- and are now up against -- after a series of trades that shipped dome of the NBA's finest players to new teams. In total, there were 15 trades made that included 21 different teams. Interestingly, the team that was most active at the deadline was the Boston Celtics who changed up their roster and rotation by shipping out center Kendrick Perkins and guard Nate Robinson. Yet, most of the league's other top teams shied away from tinkering with their rosters, holding tight with the crew that has gotten them to the top of the standings thus far.
In fact, of the 15 teams in the Western Conference, the only three teams that didn't make a swap this week were the conference's top three teams -- San Antonio, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Similarly, in the East, second-best Miami stayed still. The East as a whole was a bit less active, with only 9 of the 15 teams making a move (though Indiana did try). The middling teams in the East didn't follow the lead of their Western conference counterparts who tried to inject a late-season push to the playoffs with minor tweaks. Eastern teams toward the bottom were more actively in the market as they tried to shake things up with their futures in mind.
So much attention was paid this week to the moves that sent Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams to other teams that some of the guys who were traded today pale in comparison, stats-wise. But that doesn't mean they're insignificant. If you take a look at the complete list of players who will change jerseys this week, you'll see an array of stars and role players who will effectively fit in and find ways to contribute to their new franchises. I wonder what an NBA all-deadline team would look like, and how they'd fare against some of the league's best teams that decided to stand pat.
Drawing just one player from each deal -- and discounting those who were traded in exchange to match their value (Raymond Felton, Devin Harris, etc.) -- you can put together a pretty scary roster of 12 that, if it were fielded as its own team, would make a serious run for the title. Here's what these castaways would look like as a unit:
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Baron Davis
SF: Carmelo Anthony
PF: Shane Battier
C: Kendrick Perkins
If that starting five doesn't impress you, it's the team's depth that really stands out. Coming off the bench would be guards Aaron Brooks, Mike Bibby, and Marquis Daniels, forwards Gerald Wallace, Troy Murphy, and Carl Landry, and center Nazr Mohammed.
There was plenty of talent to be had this week, and some teams took advantage landing some of these big stars. If we learned anything from the past few days, it's how tenuous NBA players' relationships are with their teams and their cities. Guys like Williams and Battier were once considered cornerstones of their franchises; now they'll be suiting up in the next stage of their careers with new teammates, offenses, and demands.
Most intriguing about this phantom roster is that of the starting five, only Battier is heading to a team that currently has more wins than the one he just left. What's that say about where stars are needed in today's market, and the expectations cast upon them even before they arrive in their new towns.