FedExing NBA Players

Anyone who tells you that the most exciting time of the NBA season is the playoffs must not have been a general manager.  The next to last week in February brings uncertainty among the player ranks as the trade deadline has come and gone with some interesting moves... and non-moves.

Among the eye-opening flips include the shipping of long-time Denver Nugget Andre Miller to Washington.  Insiders say that a New Year's Day spat between the former Utah Ute and coach Brian Shaw may have precipitated the deadline-day move.  Miller could provide much needed mentorship to budding Wizards superstar Otto Porter, who has had a subpar rookie season playing behind fellow native Missourian and recent All-Star Bradley Beal.  Another one wagging tongues was the late move by Indiana to send former All-Star swing man Danny Granger to Philly for up-and-comer Evan Turner.  Pacers GM Larry Bird better sure hope this doesn't backfire on him because he just traded away a career 17-point-a-game player that is versatile on the wing as he is on the post, not to mention one of the key components that helped the former Eastern Conference champs push current NBA titleholder Miami to seven games last year in the conference finals.

The one non-move that is truly reverberating the league is whether or not All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo will be moved from Boston.  One of the primary cogs of the Celtics' last run to the championship four years ago, the former Kentucky standout has been the focal point of trade talks since coming back from an ACL injury last year.  When the deadline approached, the heat turned up on Rondo's pending move, something that has rankled the last link to Doc Rivers' coaching tenure in Beantown.  As of late, some league experts have Rondo going to Oklahoma City, which would take a lot of pressure off of Russell Westbrook bringing the ball up and even more release for league scoring leader Kevin Durant, who could concentrate more on posting up.

One player who was traded who wouldn't mind returning to his former team is Steve Blake.  Starting the year as the focal point of a no-name lineup the Los Angeles Lakers haven't seen since Del Harris coached the club in the early '90s, Blake was dealt to Golden State in a rare in-division transaction (both teams are in the Pacific).   The 11th-year veteran from Maryland was a key reserve in helping the Lakers barely get in the playoffs in 2013, Blake's move is being seen as waving the white flag for a club stuck in the bottom four of the Western Conference with no sign of improvement on the horizon.  With the recent revelation of Kobe Bryant needing another three weeks for his still sore knee suffered before Christmas, GM Mitch Kupchak appears to be looking toward the draft later this summer and a rare entry into the lottery.  Meanwhile, Blake, in the last year of his contract, said as he left the Staples Center for Oakland that he would entertain a return to Los Angeles next year.  Blake's wish to come back to the City of Angels could be muted if Carmelo Anthony is courted to come westward from the Knicks in the offseason.