In the past few weeks there have been several major moves that have really shook some serious title contenders in the NBA. We’ll take a look at each of those moves and how it affects the teams in question.

Josh Smith Got Waived and Picked Up By the Rockets

You know what, I’m just going to say it. Josh Smith is bad. No one seems to want to talk about that fact. Before Josh Smith got waived he was scoring 13.1 ppg while shooting .391 from the field. That’s terrible. He’s shooting .468 from the free throw line, one of the worst marks in the league. Josh Smith was a good player for Atlanta, but now that he’s getting closer to 30, Smith has lost some of his athleticism. Smith has tried to get an outside shot to help his game while getting older much like Bosh did with Miami, but it hasn’t worked. The fact that he’s a bad player is all but proven by the fact that since the move, Houston has gone 3-4 while Detroit has rattled off six wins in a row. I really don’t think the addition of Smith helps the Rockets at all, and it might cause the lane to be clogged a little bit more for Howard and Harden to do their work. Smith has shot better from the field since joining Houston, but he’s also shot more threes while shooting only .143 from three point land. That’s awful. That’s absolutely dreadful. I can’t think of an adjective I can use to describe that. I believe that with the addition of Smith the Rockets have a worse chance of winning it all and this time next year Smith will be playing in China.

Rondo Heads to Dallas

This was a simple dump move for Boston. They received a future first round pick, Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright, and Jae Crawford. There are some workable pieces there. Jameer Nelson is a below average starting point guard right now, and he’s on the wrong side of 30. He’s not getting any better, but he could become a solid backup on a playoff bound team. Look for Boston to try and move Nelson before the trade deadline. Meanwhile, Boston did get a couple of building blocks for the future. Wright and Crawford were both starting to look like solid role players in the NBA. Meanwhile, it’s always nice to stockpile first round picks. Boston definitely showed they were giving up on this season with this trade, but no one is surprised by that.

However, Dallas just did something. Rondo is definitely a huge upgrade at point guard. However, there are some adjustments that have to be made implementing him. Dallas’ offense was built around 4 players who can shoot the three and Tyson Chandler doing a pick and roll. Unfortunately, Rondo can’t shoot. Rondo was shooting .250 from three for Boston this season. That’s Josh Smith bad. However, he has shot well for Dallas going 8-18 from triple digits. Rondo is also one of the smartest players in the NBA and he’s now coached by one of the best coaches in the NBA. They’re going to figure out how to use Rondo and use him effectively. The bad part about this trade for Dallas is that they lost all of their depth. Wright was their first big man off the bench. Right now the Mavericks have two NBA ready bigs in Dirk and Chandler. They absolutely NEED a third to make it in the loaded West. Look for them to make a move to get that before the trade deadline.

Cavaliers, OKC and Knicks Make Blockbuster Trade

So, lets get this out of the way, the New York Knicks are giving up on this season. They just wanted to dump Smith’s contract, and that’s what they did.

The Cavs are trying to replace Waiters with J.R. Smith and Shumpert. Now, I hate J.R. Smith. He has always shot a low FG% and his defense is non-existent. I’ve always felt that J.R. will shoot his team out of more games than you would want from a heat check guy. However, I really like Shumpert. Shumpert is an above average defender and if he can learn to shoot the three he would be a solid starting shooting guard in the NBA and really helps with Cleveland’s defensive liabilities. Shumpert also probably fits a little bit better with Cleveland than Waiters did.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma City is the complete and utter winner in this trade. Oklahoma City gave up Lance Thomas who is averaging four ppg and is a non-factor for the Thunder when it comes to the playoffs and a future protected first round pick. Meanwhile, they got Waiters. Here’s the hard part with Dion, he hasn’t really figured it out. He also has a low shooting percentage and never learned how to play with another superstar, which doesn’t bode well for Westbrook and Durant pairings. However, he is someone who can find his own shot and truly is a young talent in the NBA. Waiters has by far the most upside with anyone in this trade and Oklahoma City got him for next to nothing. That’s not a bad pickup for the Thunder. The questions remains, can Waiters put it together? As of this moment I would guess that this trade makes Oklahoma City a little bit better, but if Waiters can figure out how to be a professional in the NBA while taking notes from Durant and Westbrook, he could be a huge pick up, and make a major difference in the playoffs.