2011 NBA Trade Deadline

          The NBA trade deadline ended Thursday February 24 at 3:00 PM ET. It seemed like a lot of teams waited until then or pretty close to make trades and change up their roster before it was too late. The last few minutes were so busy that I had trouble taking notes in my classes, I was so focused on refreshing my page and waiting for breaking news as the countdown came to an end. This year more than ever, trades came down to the last minute and even after the deadline passed, news still trickled in regarding major transactions and power shifting moves. The NBA saw many of these power swings as players changed teams, not only among divisions but among conferences. Teams that were stranded in no-man’s-land suddenly become threats to make the finals while potential finals contenders slid down a few notches. Here are the major trades that took place at or around the deadline and analysis and grades of each one.

Knicks Land Carmelo Anthony

Long Awaited Trade

It’s been a long first half of the season for the Denver Nuggets but they have finally traded Carmelo Anthony. After much drama over the past months, it’s finally over. The Nets gave a hard push in attempting to get Carmelo Anthony, as well as teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, but he has finally found a team, the New York Knicks. The Knicks, Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves have completed a trade that sends F Carmelo Anthony, G Chauncey Billups, F Renaldo Balkman, F Sheldon Williams, and G Anthony Carter from the Nuggets as well as F Corey Brewer from the Timberwolves to the Knicks. The Nuggets get F Danilo Gallinari, F Wilson Chandler, G Raymond Felton, C Timofey Mozgov, a 2014 1st round pick, two 2nd round picks, and $3 million all from the Knicks. Finally, the Timberwolves receive from the Knicks both C Eddy Curry and F Anthony Randolph.

Packers Win Super Bowl XLV

Green Bay Wins

After 14 years without a Super Bowl and a whole lot of Brett Favre drama, the Lombardi Trophy has finally returned home to Green Bay. The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in a game that came down to the last drive. Aaron Rodgers, the Super Bowl MVP, threw for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns despite some major drops by his receiving core. The Packers had to overcome some major injuries in the regular season in order to make it to the Super Bowl, so it was only fitting that they fight through more

No Suspension for Kevin Garnett After a Cheap Shot

The Low Blow

In a game between the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns, Celtics’ forward Kevin Garnett got whistled for a foul and ejected from the game after hitting Suns’ forward Channing Frye in the groin on a 3-point attempt. Frye obviously took offense to this and got in Garnett’s face. The hit can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV-iGBfTkD0&feature=related. After watching the replay and considering Garnett’s reputation, it seemed like disciplinary actions would occur. However, instead of suspending Garnett for the cheap shot, the NBA decided to do nothing. Now one may question the decision for the league not to punish Garnett for an unnecessary shot to the man region, but once