You can't judge trades for years and years, isn't that how the saying goes?

Well, phooey on that.

A total of 62 deals -- big and small, from earth-shattering to barely agate-worthy -- have gone down since the start of training camps in the 2005-06 season.

In some cases the winners and losers indeed cannot yet be judged, especially in circumstances where future draft picks were exchanged. But a majority of the deals do appear to have clear winners and losers, so let's have a look-see back at the good deals, bad deals and outright steals that have gone down over the past 18 months.



JUDGING THE PAST 62 TRADES

DATE TRADE ANALYSIS

1. Oct. 4, 2005

Chicago traded Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis to New York for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, a 2006 first-round pick (eventually became Tyrus Thomas), the right to swap first-round picks in 2007, and second-round picks in '07 and '09. Winner: Bulls. The '07 pick could still turn into Kevin Durant or Greg Oden if the Knicks miss the playoffs and have their ping-pong balls come up in the lottery, but that looks less likely now than it did two months ago. Curry has been very good for the Knicks, but the price Isiah Thomas paid was very high.


2. Oct. 4, 2005

Houston traded Mike James to Toronto for Rafer Alston. Winner: Rockets. James spent one season with the Raptors before leaving as a free agent. Alston has been a fixture at the point for nearly two full seasons for the Rockets.

3. Oct. 26, 2005

L.A. Lakers trade Jumaine Jones to Charlotte for a second-round pick in 2007.
Winner: Lakers. This will be a pretty valuable second-round pick, somewhere in the low 30s. It's probably even more valuable than the Mavs' first-round pick (likely No. 30) that Philadelphia got in the Allen Iverson trade, because the No. 30 pick gets a guaranteed two-year contract, while picks 31 and below can be signed to one-year deals.

4. Oct. 26, 2005

New Orleans traded Jamaal Magloire to Milwaukee for Desmond Mason, a 2006 first-round pick (Cedric Simmons) and cash. Winner: Hornets. Was it really so recent that Magloire had this much value? At least Milwaukee eventually turned him into something (see Trade 49). Portland wasn't so fortunate, failing to find a taker for his expiring contract at this year's deadline.

5. Oct. 31, 2005

Detroit traded Ronald Dupree to Minnesota for a second-round pick in '08 or '09. Winner: Pistons. Dupree played even less for one season under Dwane Casey in Minny as he did under Larry Brown in Detroit. The Pistons got him back as a free agent last summer.

6. Jan. 25, 2006

Indiana traded Ron Artest to Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic. Winner: Kings. The Kings took on the Pacers' headache and rode Artest into the playoffs, while Indiana didn't get anything out of Stojakovic when he sat out its final three playoff games last season with a sore knee.

7. Jan. 26, 2006

Boston traded Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks and Justin Reed to Minnesota for Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones and a future first-round pick (likely in '09 or '10). Winner: Timberwolves. As Davis noted upon his return to Boston earlier this season, Minnesota won this trade big-time. Davis and Blount are averaging nearly 30 points between them as the Wolves' No. 2 and No. 3 scorers. Szczerbiak is out for the year with a bum ankle, and his contract is borderline untradable.

8. Jan. 26, 2006

Minnesota traded Nikoloz Tskitishvili to Phoenix for a 2006 second-round pick. Winner: Timberwolves. The Wolves used that pick on 22-year-old Greek center Loukas Mavrokefalidis, who (rarely) plays for Pamesa Valencia of the Spanish League. Skita didn't help the Suns, who were trying to make something out of nothing in Bryan Colangelo's final trade for Phoenix.

9. Jan. 31, 2006

Toronto traded Aaron Williams to New Orleans for a 2006 second-round pick (used on Edin Bavcic, who was subsequently dealt to Philadelphia) and a second-round pick in 2009. Winner: Raptors. The Hornets expected Williams to help them make the playoffs. He didn't.

10. Feb. 1, 2006

Philadelphia traded Steven Hunter to New Orleans for second-round picks in '06 and '07.
Winner: None. The Hornets rescinded the trade when Hunter failed his physical. He's now the starting power forward for the semi-resurgent Sixers. New Orleans kept its pick and selected Marcus Vinicius.

11. Feb. 3, 2006

New York traded Antonio Davis to Toronto for Jalen Rose, cash and a 2006 No. 1 pick (used on Renaldo Balkman). Winner: Raptors. The Raptors made this move solely to get out from under Rose's contract, enabling them to rebuild last summer. Rose got a buyout from the Knicks at the beginning of this season.

12. Feb. 9, 2006

Houston traded Lonny Baxter to Charlotte for Keith Bogans.
Winner: None. An entirely inconsequential trade.

13. Feb. 13, 2006

Houston traded Moochie Norris to New Orleans for Maciej Lampe. Winner: Rockets. Both teams benefited financially, and the deal gave the Rockets a trade exception they used to acquire Jake Tsakalidis.

14. Feb. 14, 2006

Seattle traded Vladimir Radmanovic to the Los Angeles Clippers for Chris Wilcox. Winner: Sonics. Vlad the Snowboarder gave the Clippers 8.1 points in the playoffs before leaving as a free agent. Wilcox is entrenched as a starter with the Sonics.

15. Feb. 15, 2006

Detroit traded Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo to Orlando for Kelvin Cato and a future first-round pick.
Winner: Magic. With the Magic sliding in the East, this could end up being a lottery pick (it's top-five protected in '07, unprotected in '08). Still, Milicic has blossomed with Orlando, although the Magic could lose him this summer as a restricted free agent.

16. Feb. 22, 2006

Orlando traded Steve Francis to New York for Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway. Winner: Magic. This deal finally paid a benefit to the Knicks when Francis beat the Wizards with a buzzer-beating 3 on March 10, spawning the unbridled elation that induced Jim Dolan to give Isiah Thomas a contract extension.

17. Feb. 23, 2006

Philadelphia traded Lee Nailon and a second-round pick (Daniel Gibson) to Cleveland for a conditional second-round pick. Winner: Cavs. The conditions for Philadelphia getting that second-rounder were not met, meaning Cleveland got Gibson for nothing. This deal did, however, put the Sixers under the luxury tax.

18. Feb. 23, 2006

Denver traded Earl Watson, Voshon Lenard, Bryon Russell and a second-round pick in 2008 in a four-team deal with Seattle, Sacramento and Portland.
The Sonics got Watson, Russell and the pick; the Nuggets got Reggie Evans, Ruben Patterson and Charles Smith; the Blazers got Brian Skinner and Lenard; and the Kings got Vitaly Potapenko and Sergei Monia.
Winner: Sonics. The only players of consequence here were Watson and Evans, although the Nuggets did turn Patterson into one of the pieces that got them Allen Iverson.

19. Feb. 23, 2006

Cleveland traded Mike Wilks and $500,000 to Seattle for Flip Murray.
Winner: Cavs. The Cavs got a starting 2 guard for a couple of months (he averaged 8.1 points in the playoffs) before he left as a free agent. Wilks is still on Seattle's roster as the third point guard.

20. Feb. 23, 2006

Houston traded Derek Anderson to Miami for Gerald Fitch. Winner: Heat. The Rockets accommodated Anderson's desire to move on, and he won a ring with Miami -- although he did little to earn it, scoring 24 points in eight playoff appearances.

21. Feb. 23, 2006

New Jersey traded Marc Jackson, Linton Johnson and cash to New Orleans for Bostjan Nachbar.
Winner: Nets. It took Nets coach Lawrence Frank a long time to warm up to Nachbar, but the Slovenian played well over the past six weeks while the Nets waited out Richard Jefferson's injury. New Jersey could have used Jackson in last season's playoffs, however.

22. June 8, 2006

Toronto traded Rafael Araujo to Utah for Kris Humphries and Robert Whaley. Winner: None. Araujo doesn't play much for Utah, and the same goes for Hump in Toronto.

23. June 21, 2006

Toronto traded Matt Bonner, Eric Williams and a second-round pick in 2009 to San Antonio for Rasho Nesterovic. Winner: None. We're not all that enamored with Rasho's 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, but he's a big body on a team with very few big bodies. Bonner is a sleeper, and the Spurs might have another sleeper in Melvin Ely, who they got for Williams.

24. June 28, 2006

Minnesota traded the rights to Bobby Jones to Philadelphia for a future second-round pick and $150,000. Winner: None. Sixers general manager Billy King said the rookie from Washington is "progressing nicely." King used some of the money he received in the Rodney Carney-Thabo Sefolosha trade to acquire Jones and Edin Bavcic.

25. June 28, 2006

Toronto traded the rights to Edin Bavcic to Philadelphia for cash.
Winner: Sixers. Bavcic is shooting 60 percent and averaging 13 points and five rebounds for KK Bosna in the Bosnian League, where his teammates include former Cav J.R. Bremer.

26. June 28, 2006

Philadelphia traded the rights to Thabo Sefolosha to Chicago for the rights to Rodney Carney, a second-round pick in 2007 (New York's) and $1 million.
Winner: None. This is truly one of those too-soon-to-tell deals, though Sefolosha has looked a little more well-rounded than Carney.

27. June 28, 2006

Portland traded Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a second-round pick in 2008 to Boston for the draft rights to Randy Foye, Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau.
Winner: Blazers. Portland turned Foye into leading Rookie of the Year candidate Brandon Roy, while Telfair lost his starting point guard job in Boston.

28. June 28, 2006

Indiana traded the rights to Alexander Johnson and second-round picks in 2007 and 2008 to Portland for the rights to James White.
Winner: Blazers. Of all 62 trades listed here, this might have been the worst: Three players for a guy who was cut in training camp.

29. June 28, 2006

Portland traded the rights to Alexander Johnson to Memphis for a second-round pick in 2008.
Winner: Grizzlies. Johnson has made 19 starts for Memphis, averaging 5.0 points and 3.6 rebounds. Not bad for a No. 45 pick who recently finished a stint in the D League.

30. June 28, 2006

Portland traded the rights to Randy Foye and $1 million to Minnesota for the rights to Brandon Roy. Winner: Blazers. This deal wasn't finalized until about three minutes before Minnesota went on the board. It was one of the draft night deals that rekindled Paul Allen's enthusiasm for the Blazers and led him to take the team off the market.

31. June 28, 2006

Portland traded the rights to Tyrus Thomas, cash and Victor Khryapa to Chicago for the rights to LaMarcus Aldridge and a second-round pick in 2007.
Winner: None. Neither rookie has had a lights-out inaugural season, but Aldridge has been coming on stronger over the past month. Again, this is truly a too-soon-to-tell trade.

32. June 28, 2006

Phoenix traded the draft rights to Sergio Rodriguez to Portland for $3 million.
Winner: Blazers. Did Robert Sarver need the money that badly? Last we checked, his backup behind Steve Nash (Marcus Banks) had fallen off the face of the Earth.

33. June 28, 2006

San Antonio traded the rights to Damir Markota to Milwaukee for a 2007 second-round pick.
Winner: Spurs. Markota was the 59th pick, and the Spurs are going to get a pick in the low 30s or high 40s.

34. June 28, 2006

Phoenix traded Brian Grant, the rights to Rajon Rondo and cash to Boston for a future first-round pick.
Winner: Celtics. The draft pick owed to the Suns was originally Cleveland's and should fall in the mid-20s. Rondo can't shoot, but he's been a better acquisition for Boston than Telfair. If the Suns had kept him, he'd be a better alternative than Marcus Banks.

35. June 28, 2006

Denver traded the rights to Leon Powe to Boston for a second-round pick in 2007. Winner: Nuggets. Powe went 49th. The pick Denver will get will be in the low-30s.

36. June 28, 2006

Detroit traded Maurice Evans to the Los Angeles Lakers for the rights to Cheick Samb. Winner: Lakers. The Senegalese toothpick might one day turn into something. Evans has been solid if unspectacular for the Lakers, who won their first five games in which he was a starter.

37. June 28, 2006

Dallas traded the rights to J.R. Pinnock to the Los Angeles Lakers for a second-round pick in 2007. Winner: Mavs. The rookie from George Washington was cut during training camp. He's playing for Arkansas in the D League.

38. June 28, 2006

Orlando traded the rights to Lior Eliyahu to Houston for $275,000.
Winner: Rockets. Eliyahu had a team-high 19 points for Maccabi Tel Aviv in a recent Euroleague loss to Tau Ceramica in which Argentinian Luis Scola (NBA rights owned by San Antonio) became the Euroleague's all-time leading scorer.

39. June 30, 2006

Toronto traded Charlie Villanueva to Milwaukee for T.J. Ford and $1 million. Winner: Raptors. There's a belief in the NBA that you never trade big for small, but Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo went against the grain on this one and came out ahead. Ford is averaging 14.0 points and 7.7 assists, while Villanueva is putting up 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds when he's not injured.

40. July 12, 2006

Memphis traded Shane Battier to Houston for Stromile Swift and the rights to Rudy Gay.
Winner: Rockets. Gay, the rookie from UConn, has been as impressive as any first-year player anywhere over the past month, but Battier has been one of the few steady factors for the Rockets throughout their injury-plagued season.

41. July 12, 2006

Indiana traded Peja Stojakovic to New Orleans for the rights to Andrew Betts. Winner: None. By pulling off this deal, the Pacers got a trade exception that they used to acquire Al Harrington. Looked like a great move at the time, but we've all learned better since then. Stojakovic has played only 14 games due to injury -- though he may be back before the end of the season.

42. July 12, 2006

Golden State traded Derek Fisher to Utah for Keith McLeod, Andre Owens and Devin Brown.
Winner: Jazz. The Jazz got rid of their spare parts and landed a starting 2 guard with more playoff experience than everyone else on their roster combined. The Warriors cut Owens and Brown and traded McLeod in the Al Harrington deal.

43. July 12, 2006

Indiana traded Austin Croshere to Dallas for Marquis Daniels. Winner: Mavs. The Mavs got out from under the remaining four years and $26 million on Daniels' contract, which looks worse and worse for Indiana the longer Daniels stays on the Pacers' bench and fails to contribute. Croshere's shooting should be a factor in the playoffs, and he'll have the incentive of playing for a new contract.

44. July 14, 2006

Chicago traded Tyson Chandler to New Orleans for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith.
Winner: Hornets. The Bulls wanted to get out of their long-term financial commitment to Chandler, but they let him go at a discount in order to get an expiring contract they expected to use in a subsequent trade but never did.

45. July 14, 2006

New Orleans traded Kirk Snyder to Houston for $1.5 million and the right to swap second-round picks in '08. Winner: Rockets. Snyder complained earlier this month about his playing time, and coach Jeff Van Gundy responded by placing him on the inactive list. Still, they got him for practically nothing because the Hornets needed money to re-sign Rasual Butler.

46. July 14, 2006

Chicago traded J.R. Smith to Denver for Howard Eisley and two second-round picks in 2007 (Denver's and Golden State's).
Winner: Nuggets. Certainly will not go down as one of John Paxson's best moves. He basically gave away one of the top candidates for Most Improved Player.

47. July 24, 2006

Indiana traded Anthony Johnson to Dallas for Josh Powell, Darrell Armstrong and Rawle Marshall. Winner: Pacers. Powell was part of the package that went to Golden State in the Al Harrington trade, and Marshall is a garbage-time player, but Armstrong still might help them if they can end their current slide and make the playoffs. Dallas ditched AJ for a second-rounder on deadline day.

48. July 27, 2006

Seattle traded Mikki Moore to New Jersey for a second-round pick in 2009. Winner: Nets. This one barely made the radar when it happened, but it sure has worked out for New Jersey. Moore has been very good as their starting center since Nenad Krstic went down for the season.

49. July 31, 2006

Portland traded Brian Skinner, Steve Blake and Ha Seung-Jin to Milwaukee for Jamaal Magloire.
Winner: Bucks. The Bucks took a lot of heat when this was all they got for Magloire just a year after they paid dearly for him, but at least they got something. As noted above in trade No. 4, the Blazers couldn't move him at the deadline despite his expiring $8.3 million contract.

50. Aug. 10, 2006

Milwaukee traded Joe Smith to Denver for Ruben Patterson.
Winner: Bucks. It made little sense for the Nuggets to make this trade the day they made it, and it still makes zero sense talentwise, even though the Nuggets turned Smith's contract into Iverson. Patterson has been a rock for the Bucks, averaging 14.4 points and 5.2 rebounds.

51. Aug. 18, 2006

Cleveland traded Martynas Andriuskevicius to Chicago for Eddie Basden.
Winner: Bulls. Andriuskevicius nearly died when he was punched by teammate Awvee Storey in a D League practice, and he may never play in the NBA. Basden was waived 10 days into training camp.

52. Aug. 22, 2006

Atlanta traded Al Harrington and John Edwards to Indiana for a first-round draft pick in 2007 (top 10 protected) and cash. Winner: Hawks. Again, the Pacers pulled a nifty move by using Stojakovic to get a trade exception that would land them Harrington. We still can't believe he failed so miserably in Indiana, which is in danger of falling into the lottery.

53. Oct. 13, 2006

Cleveland traded Luke Jackson and cash to Boston for Dwayne Jones. Winner: None. Jackson was the Celtics' final training camp cut, while Jones hardly plays for Cleveland.

54. Dec. 19, 2006

Philadelphia traded Allen Iverson and Ivan McFarlin to Denver for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round draft picks (Denver's and Dallas'). Winner: None. Billy King probably ended up getting more for Iverson in December than he would have in February. The jury is still out on whether this will be a trade that helps Denver, but it was a promising sign when Iverson went for 44 points and 15 assists in a 24-point rout of Phoenix on March 17.

55. Jan. 3, 2007

New Jersey traded Jeff McInnis and cash to Charlotte for Bernard Robinson.
Winner: Bobcats. McInnis has 47 field goals since this trade, Robinson has three.

56. Jan. 11, 2007

Milwaukee traded Steve Blake to Denver for Earl Boykins, Julius Hodge and $700,000. Winner: None. Blake became the starter in Denver, then was demoted, and now is back in the starting five. Boykins could hamper the Bucks' salary cap flexibility this summer if he decides against opting out of the final year of his contract, though that seems unlikely since he's only due to make $3 million.

57. Jan. 17, 2007

Indiana traded Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell to Golden State for Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Keith McLeod and Ike Diogu. Winner: Warriors. One of these teams has lost 11 of its last 12 to drop all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race, while the other has surged with six wins in seven games to take over eighth place in the West.

58. Feb. 13, 2007

Charlotte traded Melvin Ely to San Antonio for Eric Williams, a second-round pick in 2009 (New Orleans') and $1 million. Winner: None. Williams was waived by the Bobcats. Ely has appeared in only three games for San Antonio, but the Spurs were happy to take a chance on him.

59. Feb. 13, 2007

Houston traded Scott Padgett to Memphis for Jake Tsakalidis. Winner: Rockets. The Rockets had no one taller than 6-foot-5 behind Dikembe Mutombo, so they added a second Greek player to their roster. Who says JVG can't coach Europeans?

60. Feb. 22, 2007

Dallas traded Anthony Johnson to Atlanta for a 2007 second-round pick. Winner: None. This might be the last trade Billy Knight ever makes for the Hawks, and it'll only be a good one if AJ leads them into the playoffs. Unlikely with Atlanta 4 1/2 games out of eighth place, but not impossible.

61. Feb. 22, 2007

Philadelphia traded Alan Henderson and cash to Utah for the right to swap second-round picks and other future draft considerations.
Winner: Sixers. This deal got Philadelphia under the luxury tax threshold, saving the Sixers almost $2.5 million after they mistakenly believed they had already dropped below it from the Chris Webber buyout.

62. Feb. 22, 2007

Toronto traded Fred Jones and cash to Portland for Juan Dixon. Winner: Raptors. The Raptors fell in love quickly with Dixon, but it's come at the expense of their affection for the out-of-the-rotation Morris Peterson. Jones gave up a $3.5 million third-year player option to make this trade happen.

Curry trade: how do u possibly judge that trade until you see who the Bulls get w/the Knicks' pick this season & how that player & Ty Thomas turn out in a couple years in comparison to what Curry ends up being by that time?

TOR trade: not sure how the Raptors are the winners there when Balkman looks like he's a keeper every time i see him get minutes on the floor... you think TOR has zero need for a defensive hustle player like Balkman?

Posted by TMS:

Curry trade: how do u possibly judge that trade until you see who the Bulls get w/the Knicks' pick this season & how that player & Ty Thomas turn out in a couple years in comparison to what Curry ends up being by that time?

You have to make reasonable projections. If Curry's only a neutral impact on offense and hurts his team on defense, it's reasonable to predict that at least one the players they get with their four draft picks will be superior.

I think if we had thomas to go with balkman, frye, lee we would be a much better team long term than eddy i can't do anything curry. Aldridge is even starting to put up huge numbers as it roye.

Look at the trade like this, we are missing the playoffs this year even though we have been handed them would you rather have

Crawford, Roye, Balkman, Lee, Frye and our pick

or

Crawford, Q, Balkman, Lee, Aldridge/Thomas and Frye plus our pick or Eddy Curry

I don't like Eddy because he doesn't bring it, his points are so quiet

Lets not forget we are paying Eddy 10 million

There's a difference between feeling that Isiah gave up too much(which I feel) and whether the Bulls won on the deal. If the Bulls make the wrong picks than they didn't really win on the deal. You have to wait and see before you can make that judgemnet

[Edited by - bippity10 on 03-21-2007 10:35 AM]

I think we won the Rose deal. If Balkman can add a jumpshot this summer, he is on his way to becoming a star.

The Curry trade is a toss up and will really depend on if we make the playoffs. If we make the playoffs and we only have to move back a few places in the draft, I would say that we probably got the better of the deal or at worst the deal was even (assuming Curry continues to develop).

Obviously, the Francis move was terrible. We lost Ariza and have Stevie turnover on the team.

[Edited by - thegame on 03-21-2007 10:41 AM]

Posted by nixluva:

It's just WAY too early to give Chicago the win in that deal. How about we see what pick the Bulls get and make and how that player turns out? Tyrus is still too green to know how much of an impact he's going to have. He may end up being great, but right now it's still unknown.

would you currently give us the "win" in that deal?

My only problem with the Curry plan is this. We are building our team around a guy who's major flaws are being out of shape and being lazy. Tough to do.