In the world of sports fansmanship, when our teams experience less success than we’d like, there are a myriad of excuses we rely on in our grief. Some are more interesting than others — for example, rumors that Pau Gasol’s poor playoff performance in 2011 was caused by a scheming Vanessa Bryant instigating the breakup of his romantic relationship — but one of the oldest standbys in Fan Excuse Bingo has always been the dichotomy between big market and small market teams, the haves and have-nots of the NBA. This kind of rationalizing to justify unmet expectations only intensified prior to the current season as the team executives making roster decisions and the owners picking up the tab feared the financial ramifications of the much harsher luxury tax looming based on the new collective bargaining agreement.

There are certainly a number of factors, both tangible and perceived, that stack the deck against small market franchises with tight wallets, from the very limited revenue available from local television contracts to the undeniable allure of the big cities for top-level free agent talents looking for new homes. While success and failure in the NBA can often hinge as much on sheer dumb luck as anything else, owners and executives from the most successful small market teams have learned to rely on their own diligence and savvy decision-making to close the gap. The long-term brilliance of San Antonio Spurs general manager RC Buford and the rise of protégé Sam Presti for the Oklahoma City Thunder highlight the benefits of discipline and patience when building a successful small market franchise. Furthermore, if you can land a head coach with the ability to cultivate and get the most out of young, raw talent (Rick Adelman in Minnesota, Frank Vogel in Indiana) this can only accelerate a small market franchise’s growth.

The Nuggets have managed to lose their GM and coach in a single off-season. By Keith Allison, via Wikimedia Commons

This makes the recent developments in Denver all the more mystifying. Despite being plagued by injuries, most notably Danilo Gallinari’s season-ending torn ACL, and falling victim to Steph Curry’s awe-inspiring playoff debut in their first round series against the Golden State Warriors, the prognosis for the Nuggets was very good. Taking the helm as GM for the Denver Nuggets in 2010, Masai Ujiri earned considerable credibility around the league with his masterful handling of Carmelo Anthony’s departure in 2011. As tension grew between the disgruntled superstar, the Denver fan base, and the national media, Ujiri faced mounting pressure to take any deal from the New York Knicks or the then-New Jersey Nets that would inevitably return cents-on-the-dollar for a player widely considered Top 10 in the league. In the face of constant scrutiny, Ujiri insisted on holding out for the best possible deal, and reaped the benefits when he managed to land four valuable pieces (Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, and Timofey Mozgov) in a blockbuster trade with the Knicks. Ujiri has continued to make smart roster decisions since then; Ty Lawson remains the lone pre-Ujiri holdover on a team that overachieved their way into the third seed in the highly competitive Western Conference. For his efforts, Ujiri was voted by his peers as NBA Executive of the Year, and was promptly offered a significant raise by the Toronto Raptors, which Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke declined to match.

The overachievement of the roster Ujiri built can be heavily attributed to the work done by NBA Coach of the Year George Karl. On a team with no All-Star and no player averaging more than 16.7 points, Karl’s young squad notched a franchise-record 57 wins by consistently out-running and out-working opponents. Bolstered by the rising star of Lawson at the point, the defensive swagger of a less-burdened Andre Iguodala, and the hard-hat mentality of the Kenneth “The Manimal” Faried, the Nuggets rightfully struck fear in the hearts of most of the NBA’s top contenders, many of whom lost their season series against the Nuggets this year (including the Thunder, Grizzlies, Clippers, Warriors, and Rockets). There’s little to suggest that Karl was unsuitable to lead the Nuggets well into future seasons, and it’s not unreasonable that the reigning Coach of the Year would want an opportunity to continue developing this young, exciting team, as well as some job security with a multi-year contract extension. And yet Karl finds himself back on the market, with no shortage of interested suitors.

And this is why small market teams can’t have nice things. Big market franchises can withstand bad ownership; I’m fairly certain that we could replace Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling with Amanda Bynes on a bender and she would still manage to be less offensive and deranged than the man in charge. However, despite the odds, many of the most successful teams in recent history have shown that small market teams can keep up. They keep up by being patient, disciplined, and most of all, making smart decisions. And doing everything they could to keep the reigning Executive of the Year and Coach of the Year were the most obvious of no-brainer decisions that the Denver Nuggets still managed to mess up.

When trying to capture the overall implications of this most recent trade deadline, one needs to realize that there were a lot of risks taken and futures mortgaged. There hasn’t been a deadline similar to this in recent memory where so many superstars were swapped. Some trades could be honestly questioned. Some made complete sense. Some teams made out and some teams got taken for the proverbial ride. Let’s go ahead and delve into “who, to where, for what and why?”

The headline for months was the much hyped “Melo-drama,” as it was so cleverly described. We couldn’t see that one coming, could we? While ESPN’s Chris Broussard basically conjured the validity of a Carmelo Anthony for Andrew Bynum trade out of thin air, the real competition in the waning days for Anthony’s services was between New Jersey and New York.

It was much publicised that New Jersey was having significant talks with Denver up to about a month ago, when in a display of impatience, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov nixed all talks between the two. They became the New Jersey “Nyets.” Most thought this was due to Denver simply needing more in return for an Anthony package than New Jersey was willing to give up. The truth of the matter may have been that Prokhorov finally saw the light and realized what was truly going on.

It had been blatantly obvious from day one of all trade discussion that Carmelo wanted to be a New York Knick. He is from New York and saw playing in the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden, as a life-long dream. While the Nets have particular fan strongholds in the New York/New Jersey area, and even though they started vertical construction on their new Brooklyn Barclays Center three months ago, they are no competition for the Knicks as far as the brightly lit stage of the big city of dreams is concerned.

Prokhorov is no idiot. He is the 89th richest man in the world. You don’t find yourself at that level of wealth by getting played by 30-year old team presidents and general managers like Josh Kroenke and Masai Ujiri. He finally came to the realization that the Nuggets were only using trade discussions with his Nets as a leverage play against New York. If New York thought New Jersey was a player and had a legit shot to score Anthony, Denver could trade him to New York, where he was inevitably going to go anyway, for much less than they would have had New Jersey not been in the picture.

All of this front-office analysis aside, what does this trade do for the bottom line of buckets?

The Nuggets parted with a superstar in Anthony, as well as a serviceable point guard, albeit in the sunset of his career, in Chauncey Billups. The less newsworthy of these two players was a significant part of this deal. Billups still can hit big shots, is one of the best veteran leaders in the league, and will mesh with Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni’s run-and-gun system almost instantly. New York also got throw-in forwards; Renaldo Balkman, who was originally drafted by New York in 2006, and Shelden Williams, whose only note of significance in his meager NBA career has been being the husband of WNBA superstar Candice Parker.  Quite a resume.

The Knicks parted with a young and improving point guard in Raymond Felton, as well as New York sociological attraction, Italian forward Danilo Gallanari. Also headed to the Rocky Mountains are roundly-skilled forward Wilson Chandler and big-man project Timofey Mozgov.

The Nuggets got a full hockey line, but the Knicks got a superstar, a championship-seasoned veteran and two expiring and insignificant contracts. While each team got a lot of what they needed for the point each franchise currently is in their overall process, the advantage still has to go to the Big Apple. A top five superstar is a top five superstar, especially packaged with a solid veteran point guard.  You trade what is needed to be able to acquire these two if you are the Knicks, even if you have to give up your right arm and your first-born to get them.

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A cornerstone and respected leader in this league, Jerry Sloan, retires? The longest tenured coach in the NBA just walks away after twenty-two seasons right in the middle of his twenty-third? Now that all-star point guard Deron Williams has been traded to New Jersey two weeks after this unpredicted turn of events, popular and reasonable belief can only consider two options as to why Sloan walked away. Either Williams did what he could to push Sloan out the door through open defiance simply out of his own choice, or the “bling” in his left ear that should belong on Kate Middleton’s finger whispered to do the same because old man Sloan was cramping his style. Either way, Williams played a part, and I have a feeling Jazz management and ownership saw the writing on the wall. The fact that Williams was going to become a free agent in 2012 only had something to do with his ousting. His attitude and arrogance is what ultimately got him shoved out the door and banished to one of the league’s worst situations.

Not only did Utah get to unload an egotistical malcontent, but they made out with the biggest trade deadline steal in recent memory. Williams may be arguably the most complete point guard in the NBA today, but he is still only one player. Last I checked, Deron Williams can’t pass the ball to Deron Williams.

In return for Williams, the Jazz received a solid point guard replacement in Devin Harris. They also acquired last year’s number two overall pick in the draft, twenty year-old potential-phenom forward, Derrick Favors. Giving up on this kid so soon is seemingly a display of impatient haste by the Nets, is it not?

What a great deal for the Jazz, given there was no way Williams was going to resign with Utah after next season, right? Well, that’s not all they got. Let’s toss in two first-round draft picks, one from the Nets and one from the Golden State Warriors.  Both of these picks could very well be lottery picks, given the foreseeable ineptitude of New Jersey and Golden State in the coming years. Wait, that’s not all? How bout three million in cash for the pocket as icing on the cake? A top ten to fifteen point guard, a number two overall pick who is twenty, two potential lottery picks, and cash?  For one player?  Feliz Navidad, Utah.

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In the most questionable move made when considering the implications of the real race for the ultimate prize this season, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge sent stalwart center Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City along with jitter-bug guard Nate Robinson. Wait, I thought Perkins getting hurt during last year’s finals was the sole reason you guys couldn’t get over on the Lakers, Danny?  He is supposedly that important to your team in crunch-time, yet he is this movable less than a year later? Sounds like that excuse back then was just a cry for a crutch, reminiscent of the squeaking from Paul Pierce’s wheelchair brakes. Yes, this trade has now proven that was in fact cow excrement you were smelling from the mouths of New Englanders after the Lakers were celebrating the spoils last year. How does your excuse look now, crybabies?

On the red-eye to the land of “chowdah” comes former Thunder forwards Nenad Kristic and Jeff Green. Green was originally drafted by the Celtics, and was then subsequently traded on a draft-day deal to the then Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen. Ainge was obviously high on Green that draft, but when given the opportunity to add a sharpshooter like Allen to the centerpiece of Paul Pierce and at the time, recently signed free agent Kevin Garnett, he sold out.

While that move then ended up helping bring a championship to Boston in 2008, Ainge now making the deal for Green reeks of desperation, ego, and a chance at some sort of twisted “I told you so.” When you consider the thought-process of the idea behind the trade, Ainge claiming Green could be the heir-apparent to Kevin Garnett, what he gave up to be able to claim this possibility is borderline comical.  Ainge trading Perkins for Green because he kind of ‘reminds’ him of Garnett is the equivalent of Mitch Kupchak trading Andrew Bynum for Thaddeus Young because he kind of ‘reminds’ him of Lamar Odom. Way to go, Danny. This is the move that people will point to when you are forced out the door in a few seasons.

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As the schedule continues, unflappable to the time needed to digest all the recent changes in the league-wide chemistry, the positioning for playoff seeding will obviously become more heated than it has been to this point. Now comes this very segment we have all been debating for months, and with the shock of these recent moves, questions instantly arise:

Can the Lakers ‘flip the switch’ and make child’s play of the Western Conference like in recent years past?

Is the Spurs’ chase-rabbit record really who they are?  Did regular season records do anything for the Cavaliers the past two seasons? Can unproven playoff role-players like George Hill, Dejuan Blair and Gary Neal become championship-level counterparts?

Does Dallas still even have a seat at the Western Conference table?  Are they to be taken as a serious threat?

Is the addition of Kendrick Perkins the much needed ingredient of inside presence the Thunder need to be an actual and legitimate player in the Western Conference shakedown?

Can the defensive blockade Tom Thibodeau’s Bulls are displaying carry them up to the level of the Eastern Conference elite, and most importantly, carry them in a seven-game series?

Are Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy’s mess of wing players even relevant as we come down the finish line?

Will Danny’s Ainge’s ego in trying to prove he was right about Jeff Green cost the Celtics a realistic chance at the title in their now dwindling years near the top? I know this much for sure, Laker and Heat fans are ecstatic about the loss of Kendrick Perkins. The Lakers now hold a distinct size advantage and the Heat now don’t have such a size discrepancy against Boston.

And lastly, as far as the Heat, will the most gravy-trained collection of elite stars in recent memory topple the naysayers? Will they reach The NBA Finals in their first try at conceived and orchestrated glory? Good luck big three. You’re going to have to drag your dirty-dozen along with you en route to a title. The bricks of Mike Miller and James Jones are building a structure of mediocrity thus far for the level of overall talent you have boasted. The Heatles? Give me a break, “King.” Win something, then talk. I’ve never heard of a King who doesn’t have a crown, you paper champ.

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Questions and vemon aside, when all is said and done, the choices made and paths sought at this deadline will effect these upcoming moves as much as they will effect numerous moves down the road. Some teams played for now and some teams played for later.  Playoff-time reveals destiny, and the free will of the trade deadline move-makers plays a major role in the fate of the actual move-makers on the court.  Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, the time to really make your move is upon us.