Melo’s Nuggets are deadline losers (Photo. Jonathan Mannion)

As Gregg Popovich would tell you, the trade deadline affects every team in the League – especially when the Grizzlies ship one of the top 10 centers in the game to the Lakers for 10 cents on the dollar. But seriously, it doesn’t matter whether teams made 11-player deals or sat on their hands, they deserve a grade for their trade deadline decisions. We’re separating the winners from the losers in the West first… Come back later for the East.

WINNERS:

Utah – GOT: Kyle Korver. GAVE UP: Gordon Giricek: The Jazz are winners on two accounts. They satisfied the ‘addition by subtraction’ criteria when whiny Gordon was sent packing for good. And Korver is a huge asset, helping the Jazz spread the floor with dead-eye shooting. The proof is in the numbers: Utah is 19-3 since the trade and Korver is often on the floor in crunch time.

LA Lakers – GOT: Pau Gasol. GAVE UP: Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, 1st Rounder 2008, and 1st Rounder 2010: Doesn’t Pau-Pau look like he was born to play in the Triangle? Maybe it was because Amare was playing abysmal defense, but the Kobe/Gasol pick-and-slip play resulted in an open look for one of them twelve out of twelve times during that 130-124 win.

New Orleans – GOT: Bonzi Wells and Mike James. GAVE UP: Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska, and Marcus Vinicius: The Hornets sent a clear message to the rest of the League with this deal: ‘We love being in first place, but are nervous as hell about staying up here.’ Byron Scott needed to bolster his bench, which was in desperate need of a consistent rebounder. In Wells, Scott and N.O. GM Jeff Bower grabbed a proven board-crashing guard.

San Antonio – GOT: Kurt Thomas. GAVE UP: Brent Barry, Francisco Elson, 1st Rounder 2009: The defending champs addressed their need for a big with more game than Fabricio Oberto. But they paid a considerable price, giving up Brent Barry’s shooting and a first-rounder. This deal could be a big win for San Antonio, especially if Seattle cuts Barry and he can re-sign with the Spurs after 30 days.

Dallas – GOT: Jason Kidd, Antoine Wright, and Malik Allen. GAVE UP: Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, Keith Van Horn, two 1st Rounders and $3 million: Diop has serious value in today’s West given the Lakers and Suns big-man arms race. He’ll definitely be missed. But the J-Kidd, J-Terry, Josh Howard, Dirk and Dampier five creates mismatches that will force teams to play small. Let’s fast-forward to May: If Dallas can spring ahead of Utah for the five seed, they would draw San Antonio in a 4/5 match-up. There, the new-look Mavs could feasibly run the defending champs to their playoff death, no matter who guards Timmy.

Phoenix – GOT: Shaquille O’Neal. GAVE UP: Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks: Did you really think that Shaq was giving it 100% in Miami? Shortly after the trade dropped, reports surfaced that his health had ‘vastly improved.’ Perhaps it is the Arizona air, but he absolutely mushed D.J. Mbenga in the first half of the loss to LA.

Houston – GOT: Bobby Jackson and Gerald Green. GAVE UP: Kirk Snyder, Bonzi Wells, Mike James, 2nd Rounder 2010, and cash: Rockets fans can sleep easier knowing that they added much-needed stability at the point. Plus, it can’t hurt to put Gerald Green in front of T-Mac every day and tell him, ‘Watch!’

Minnesota – GOT: Kirk Snyder, Rockets’ 2nd Rounder 2010, and cash. GAVE UP: Gerald Green: Anytime you trade away a dude who wears a backpack to a grown man’s event during All-Star weekend, you’re coming out on top.

Golden State – GOT: Chris Webber. GAVE UP: Nothing: The Warriors’ status as trade deadline winners has nothing to do with their acquisition of C-Webb. They probably could have sent some of their younger pieces (Brandan Wright, Marco Belinelli, etc.) to get more help on the front lines, but made the smart decision not to budge for anything short of Elton Brand.

LOSERS:

Seattle – GOT: Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, and Adrian Griffin and Spurs 1st Rounder 2009. GAVE UP: Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and Kurt Thomas: The Kurt Thomas trade is understandable. He’s not part of their long-term plans. But Sonics management must be kidding with the Marshall, Newble, Griffin three musketeers.

Denver – GOT: Nothing. GAVE UP: Nothing: How pissed off must ‘Melo and AI be that the Nuggets management didn’t pull the trigger on the Artest deal because they didn’t want to part with Linas Kleiza?

LA Clippers – GOT: Nothing. GAVE UP: Nothing: The Clippers could have gotten some young talent and draft picks in exchange for Sam Cassell. But they didn’t play the right chords with Danny Ainge and will now end up buying Cassell out so that he can play for a contender.

Memphis – GOT: Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, the Lakers’ 1st Rounder in 2008, and the Lakers’ 1st Rounder in 2010. GAVE UP: Pau Gasol: GM Chris Wallace, you can come out from under the covers. Yes the Gasol trade still has Memphis’ finest looking to fill a bounty on you. But on the bright side, you didn’t ship Mike Miller or Kyle Lowry for 10 cents on the dollar as was advertised in a possible trade to Cleveland.

Sacramento – GOT: Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright, Shelden Williams, and Atlanta’s 2nd Rounder 2008. GAVE UP: Mike Bibby: Currently holding down the 11-seed in the West, the Maloof boys made the right move to reorient their nucleus around Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia, and co. as opposed to the old order of Bibby and Artest. But they needed to make a deal with Ron-Ron. His presence cuts into the team’s potential to build chemistry around the young core.

Portland – GOT: Von Wafer. GAVE UP: Taurean Green: Thanks for wasting our time, Kevin Pritchard. You traded a guy averaging 2.1 points per game for a game posting 1.3. Great.