Flurry of trades affect bottom line and top of the standings

NEW YORK -- NBA trades these days are about two things: championships and payroll.

Some teams trade to contend for a title. Some teams trade to save money. And each of the six big trades over the last three days involved a team looking to win and a team looking to save.

With the bottom line becoming more of a priority across the league because of the economy, it's better to be bad with a small payroll than be good (but not good enough) with a big one. The ultimate goal is always to win the NBA championship. But sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take two steps forward.

That kind of outlook made for several big deals over the last three days, more action than we saw at the trading deadline in February. Each trade will make an impact on the standings come November, but alone, none will keep the Lakers from entering the season as the favorite to repeat.

Of course, we still have four more months before the 2009-10 season starts and another four months before the next trading deadline. Free agency, injuries and much more will play a part in who hoists the Larry O'Brien trophy next June.

For now, we'll evaluate each big deal made over the last three days and how it affects the standings and the bottom line.

Cleveland traded Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace and the 46th pick to Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal

Steve Kerr took a chance when he traded for Shaq at the deadline in 2008, and now Danny Ferry is taking a chance with this deal. The difference is that Kerr gave up one of his best players, and Ferry didn't give up anybody that was going to play next season. Further, O'Neal is a free agent next summer, so this could be just a one-year experiment.

But how does O'Neal fit in with the Cavs? If Anderson Varejao leaves via free agency, Cleveland will be without a reliable power forward and have two mostly immobile centers who are ages 34 and 36. O'Neal won't get abused by Dwight Howard like Ilgauskas did in the conference finals, but he isn't going to be defending the pick-and-roll very well.

Offensively, the Cavs get slower and more deliberate, but Shaq gives them more high-low balance. Still, until we see the Shaq-LeBron combo on the court, it's tough to say the Cavs are now better than the Magic, Lakers or Celtics in a postseason series.

The Suns shed more salary and look like they're resigned to remain a lottery team. As a result, Steve Nash probably isn't going to want to stick around when he's a free agent next summer, if he doesn't ask for a trade before that.

"Everything [Suns management does] has a financial connotation, so it's not even worth commenting on," Nash told NBA.com's Art Garcia before the trade was announced.

New Jersey traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to Orlando for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee

In Carter, the Magic add another All-Star to their squad and another guy who can make plays in their pick-and-roll offense. Hedo Turkoglu can opt out of the final year of his contract this summer -- he's already said he will -- so Carter could replace him if Turkoglu leaves. If Turkoglu stays, the Magic will be loaded and a favorite to return to The Finals, but they'll also be way over the luxury tax.

Anderson gives the Magic another shooter, and the departure of Alston avoids any further point guard controversy and keeps Anthony Johnson in Orlando. The departure of Battie makes re-signing Marcin Gortat a priority. Without him, Dwight Howard is their only big man.

The Nets shed long-term money by dealing Carter, but basically book their third straight trip to the Draft lottery. VC has two more fully guaranteed years on his contract. Getting the expiring deals of Alston and Battie in return gives the Nets a ton of cap space in 2010. They had talked about similar deals with other teams, but with this one, they also get a talented young guard in Lee, who can team with Devin Harris to form a backcourt with a bright future.

Atlanta traded Speedy Claxton and Acie Law to Golden State for Jamal Crawford

It's been said that Crawford gives the Hawks some point guard insurance should they not re-sign free agent Mike Bibby. But Crawford is not the guy you want leading athletes like Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and Al Horford on the break. He is, as a third guard, someone who can give the Hawks another scorer on the floor when teams focus on Joe Johnson, like the Cavs did in the conference semifinals this May.

Law doesn't give the Warriors a traditional point guard, and it would be a surprise if Claxton plays much next season. But Golden State sheds some salary (Crawford is owed $10 million in '10-11) in the deal.

Milwaukee traded Richard Jefferson to San Antonio for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas, and traded Oberto to Detroit for Amir Johnson

The Spurs took a big step toward contending for another title with a move that gets them a fourth potent scorer in the lineup and someone with plenty of postseason experience. Jefferson is an eight-year vet who is still only 29 years old, a baby compared to the guys that went the other way in this deal.

The Bucks shed themselves of Jefferson's guaranteed salary over the next two years, which gives them more money to re-sign Charlie Villanueva and/or Ramon Sessions. Perhaps, if they stay healthy, Milwaukee will be fine offensively. But the Bucks will miss Jefferson's experience and reliability.

With Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Kwame Brown all free agents this summer, Oberto gives the Pistons a more reliable big man to help reload their frontline.

Minnesota traded Randy Foye and Mike Miller to Washington for Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas and the No. 5 pick.

The Wizards look like an Eastern Conference contender again. The trade leaves them thin up front, but gives them tremendous depth (and talented depth at that) in their backcourt, with Gilbert Arenas, Foye, Miller, DeShawn Stevenson and Nick Young. Don't be surprised if they move Stevenson or Young for someone who can give them some toughness down low. As the roster stands, Washington may be a step below Orlando and Cleveland in the East.

With the fifth pick, the Timberwolves selected Ricky Rubio, and then took another point guard, Jonny Flynn, a pick later. Both Rubio and Flynn were highly sought after by several teams, so speculation was that one of them would be traded. As of now, they're both Timberwolves, curious to say the least.

Memphis traded Darko Milicic to New York for Quentin Richardson

Milicic adds some length to the league's worst shot-blocking team. He should be more comfortable playing in Mike D'Antoni's offense, and his deal expires next summer, so it's a no-risk, low-reward situation for the Knicks. The trade makes room for Hasheem Thabeet (taken with the second pick) to step into a big role for the Grizzlies, but Richardson won't give them much more than a couple of threes every once in a while.

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