No trades yet, but that doesn't mean all's quiet
By Chris Sheridan

At some point soon in this season of no trades, a Jim Jackson moment will be sprung on some unsuspecting soul.

Rest assured, there will be a trade. Whether it's Ron Artest, Earl Watson, Mike Miller, Mickael Pietrus or someone else, a phone is going to ring and the voice on the other line is going to deliver the news of a deal.

"I was playing in Philly, and Larry Brown came up to me and said things were not working out, and the Sixers were not conducive to how I play. He said he wanted to get me to a championship-caliber team, and San Antonio was very interested. He also said Golden State had called, but they weren't interested in what the Warriors were offering," Jackson recalled.

"That was at shootaround, and later on that day I got a phone call. They said don't come, because we're making a trade. I was like, 'I'm going to San Antonio?' They said, 'No, you're going to Golden State.'"

That was only one of seven trades Jackson has been involved in since entering the league in 1992, and he is as flummoxed as most everyone else as to why this season has been so quiet on the trade front.

Monday marked the NBA's 68th consecutive day without a trade, nearly 10 weeks of inactivity since the double dose of deals that came toward the end of training camp -- Jamaal Magloire's being dealt from New Orleans to Milwaukee for Desmond Mason and a No. 1 draft pick, and Jumaine Jones' going from the Lakers to the Bobcats for a second-round pick.

"I think you're going to see one real soon, something a little daring," said Memphis Grizzlies president Jerry West, who is being proactive in trying to find a replacement at point guard for Damon Stoudamire after the veteran went down for the season Saturday night with a knee injury.

One source told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies were involved in talks with the Pacers and another team for a three-way trade that would net Memphis a point guard and send Artest to a third team.

Golden State, Denver, Minnesota and the Los Angeles Lakers remained the four strongest suitors for Artest, who has been languishing in limbo for more than three weeks since the Pacers said they would fulfill his since-rescinded request to be traded.

One Eastern Conference executive said the Pacers were pushing to make a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, seeking both Corey Maggette and Chris Wilcox in a multiplayer transaction. Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy has said he would welcome the opportunity to coach Artest, while vice president Elgin Baylor has sounded less enamored about the idea of bringing in the volatile 26-year-old.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, were shopping small forward Mike Miller in their quest to find a new point guard, and there were reports that Memphis was interested in reacquiring Denver's Earl Watson after letting him depart as a free agent over the summer. Watson also has been mentioned in a prospective deal with Seattle for Flip Murray.

"It's getting more difficult and complex all the time to make trades, between all the rules and all the people who are grossly overestimating their talent," West said.

Actually, trade rules were loosened as part of the new collective bargaining agreement. Under the old rules, the salaries of traded players had to be within 15 percent of one another, plus $100,000, whereas the new rules have upped that percentage to 25 percent.

But another new rule -- the abolition of the injured list in favor of an inactive list that can change from game to game -- has given general managers an added measure of flexibility that also might be a contributing factor to the dearth of trades.

Exactly one year ago, on Jan. 3, 2005, the Phoenix Suns sent Zarko Cabarkapa to the Golden State Warriors for a pair of second round draft picks. It was the fifth trade of a 2004-05 season that would go on to become one of the busiest, trade-wise, in recent years.

By this point in the 2003-04 season, there had been nine trades made, and you have to go all the way back to 1999-2000 to find a season in which this much time had elapsed before the first deal of the season. (Charlotte acquired Dale Ellis from Milwaukee for two second-round picks on Jan. 19).

"It's quiet now, but my hope is that something will happen before the deadline," said Arm Tellem, the agent for mothballed Bulls forward Tim Thomas.

Chicago said it would attempt to trade Thomas after it became clear he could not coexist with Bulls coach Scott Skiles, but more than two months have passed without anyone expressing an interest in the 6-foot-10 forward making $13.975 million in the final season of his contract.

Another player who expected to be dealt by now was Portland's Ruben Patterson, but a source close to the team said the Trail Blazers have turned down two offers for the small forward -- one of which included a player with an expiring contract and a player selected in the first round of the 2005 draft.

Like Patterson, Washington's Chucky Atkins asked to be traded. But the Wizards, like many teams, are waiting to see where Artest winds up before pulling the trigger on any deals of their own.

One source said Memphis had three deals on the table that would bring them a new point guard. Another source said New Jersey's Jeff McInnis was one of the players the Grizzlies were considering, though the source said it was "highly unlikely" that Memphis would make a deal with the Nets.

Jackson recalled the time he was traded to the Nets as part of a nine-player deal with Dallas in February 1997, learning of the trade while the Mavericks were in Vancouver. He was left behind at the luxurious Pan Pacific Hotel as the rest of the team took the bus to the arena.

"We were all shocked. It was me, Gat [Chris Gatling] and Sam [Cassell] that really hung out that night," Jackson said. "It was a long flight from Vancouver to New Jersey."

Jackson's career would eventually include trades from New Jersey to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Golden State, Portland to Atlanta, Atlanta to Cleveland, Houston to New Orleans and New Orleans to Phoenix, so he understands that the current lull is only temporary.

"I think teams right now are still in that feel-out process," Jackson said. "Some teams, I believe, are trying to feel exactly where they're at and what they need to get over the hump, but I think there's going to be some movement pretty soon."

wat is the benefit of us not trading davis and penny, and just letting their contracts expire?