Trade Deadline!

As most of you basketball fans know, today was the trade deadline. Hours before the deadline passed, the Los Angeles Lakers traded away five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher and two first-round draft picks. The Lakers used the deals to acquire a trio of players as the team looks to return to the NBA Finals for the eighth time in the last 13 seasons. Was this a mistake to trade Derek Fisher?

The Lakers sent a first-round draft pick and Derek Fisher, a guard who is the president of the NBA Players Association and won five NBA titles with the Lakers, to the Houston Rockets in return for Jordan Hill. According to the sports world, Lakers owner Jerry Buss said on a statement on the team's website, "I want to express my deepest gratitude to Derek for everything he has meant to this organization over the years... Few who have worn the Lakers uniform have done so with as much class as Derek, both on the court and in the community." With this being said, it leaves a million questions in my mind... why would you trade a player who's been with the team through five NBA titles and who's given back so much to both the team and the community? In my head, it just makes no sense especially with the Lakers hoping to return to the NBA Finals this season. 


The Lakers also dealt forward Luke Walton, guard Jason Kapono and its 2012 first-round pick to Cleveland for guard Ramon Sessions and forward Christian Eyenga, the Cavaliers said in an e-mailed release. However, amidst all this madness of trades before the 3 p.m New York deadline, perhaps the more serious news was focused on a player who stayed put on his team... Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year) announced this afternoon that he would be waiving a clause within his contract that would have allowed him to become a free agent after this season. Simply to say that, it kept him off the trading block and under contract with Orlando through the 2012-13 season.