[Izulde]

Chicago Bulls receive
PG Devin Harris
Dallas Mavericks 2014 2nd round pick

Dallas Mavericks receive
PF Josh McRoberts

What this means for the Bulls
Harris is a very good pass-first PG but he doesn't improve the Bulls all that much, not when they have Javaris Crittenton on the bench. A puzzling trade from that standpoint and the 2nd rounder is going to be pretty low.

What this means for the Mavericks
McRoberts was taken with the 16th pick of the draft in 2007 and has been an end of the bench player with the Bulls ever since. While he'll be a mid-bench man in Dallas, he's extremely mediocre.

Advantage: Chicago
This isn't really a good deal for either team, but Chicago does improve because of it, whereas the Mavericks actually get worse, because while Dallas's 1st round pick last year, Jamar Barnes, has some intriguing offense-running skills, he's a huge downgrade on defense from Harris.

Indiana Pacers receive
PF Cedric Simmons

New Orleans Hornets receive
PF Sean Bergmann
C David Harrison

What this means for the Pacers
Simmons is a much more polished version of Leroy Wright and in consequence, he steps in as the starting C. While he may be undersized, Simmons is the best player the Pacers have had at the position in a very long time, which doesn't say much, but upgrade is still upgrade.

What this means for the Hornets
The season's already long since lost for New Orleans, so this is about clearing the way for rebuilding. Harrison's an expiring $3.8 million contract and the 24 year old 2nd year Bergmann, taken with the 19th pick last year, is a young body with defensive skills. However, it's a worrying sign that he's on the inactive list for one of the worst teams in the league.

Advantage: Indiana
The Pacers didn't give up much at all to address their biggest void and the Hornets only gained marginal cap flexibility.

Toronto Raptors receive
PF James Augustine

Philadelphia 76ers receive
PG Darius Washington

What this means for the Raptors
At first glance, this is a headscratcher for Toronto, getting yet another front-court player, particular one as average as Augustine. But Chris Bosh is out with a broken elbow, so the Raptors felt they needed to get some depth and the 29 year old is a nice pickup in that regard. Doesn't do anything exceptionally well, doesn't do anything poorly either.

What this means for the 76ers
Washington has some excellent shooting skills and decent scoring instincts, but that's about it. Philadelphia also has a glut of guards on the roster and while Manu Ginobli and Steve Francis are 36, Washington's contract expires at the end of this year. Were he on a multi-year deal, this trade would make a lot more sense.

Advantage: Toronto
Timely filling of an emergency situation by the Raptors here and the 76ers just threw in another body in a position group they were already stacked in.

Never good to hear that the defending champions have shrewdly plugged a hole that springs up, but at least they didn't go out and get a great rental like we did.

Our first game in March is another hotly hyped matchup with the Pacers. We were embarassed last time and I'm hoping that motivates us to do much better this go round. We do, but we still lose 103-96 despite Mateen Yeaton's 22 points and 10 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich's 21 points and 12 assists. Ben Gordon bombed us for 27 points and new addition Cedric Simmons was everywhere, fashioning the impressive line of 15 points, 24 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks and a steal in taking home Player of the Game.

Vince Carter has his best game since joining us with 31 points against the Clippers as we thump the Red and White 110-98. Dan Jacobson gets 14 points and 15 rebounds, Mateen Yeaton contributes 14 points and 10 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich completes the team tripling of doubles with a pair of 13s, in points and assists. Phillip Gill is top man off the bench with 11 points.

An excellent balanced offense, keyed by Mateen Yeaton's 32 points gives us a 110-103 victory over the Trailblazers. Dan Jacobson adds 21 points and 11 rebounds, Kirk Hinrich 12 points and 20 assists. Jacobson isn't quite having the explosive season I thought he might, and in fact his points per game are down about a point from last year with our additional firepower, but he's also averaging double-digit rebounds for the first time in his career.

The win streak continues with a sweep of the next pair, a back-to-back against San Antonio and Phoenix. We wallop the Spurs 112-94 in San Antonio without anybody on our team scoring 20 points, making it a doubly impressive victory. Dan Jacobson and Kirk Hinrich double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 19 points, 12 assists respectively and Marcus Williams and Patrick Pastner both added 14 points from the bench. No such balance occurs against the Suns, where Mateen Yeaton singlehandedly gives us the 97-83 victory with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in the only noteworthy performance of our players.

Charlotte's been known for their defense, but it doesn't hold up against us as we crush them 112-98. Mateen Yeaton leads the way with 33 points, Kirk Hinrich has his umpteenth straight double-double with 14 points and 12 assists and Patrick Pastner leads the reserve charge with 16 points.

Another game against the Clippers, another resounding Nuggets victory, this one 112-81. Mateen Yeaton scores 34, Emeka Okafor wakes up on offense with 23 points and Dan Jacobson (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Kirk Hinrich (10 points, 15 assists) supply us with double-doubles.

Kirk Hinrich's double-double streak just narrowly comes to an end with 11 points and 9 assists, but Mateen Yeaton continues his 30+ point scoring streak with 33, Dan Jacobson scores 24 and Patrick Pastner powers the reserves with 13 points as we roll over Milwaukee 110-99.

Fascinating game against the Wizards (we won 109-80). Every single Washington player was held below double-digits, except for Gilbert Arenas, who was a one-man tour de force, finishing with 47 points. We countered them easily with a balanced offense, highlighted by 30 points from Vince Carter and 10 bench points from Patrick Pastner. Mateen Yeaton's hot streak ended with 19 points on the night.

We're so dominant and so on fire right now, even the Lakers can't beat us. The surprisingly easily 107-86 victory is keyed by six Nuggets scoring double-digits, the most notable performances coming from Kirk Hinrich with 20 points and 10 assists and Marcus Williams with 10 points off the bench. Williams has really been a pleasant surprise from the Great Trade. Although his numbers aren't eye-popping by any means, he does extremely well with the minutes he's given.

I've lost track of how long this winning streak has run as we top the Kings 93-77, Mateen Yeaton the kingslayer with 31 points and 10 rebounds, Kirk Hinrich his helper with 10 points and 10 assists, Patrick Pastner another tenner with 10 bench points. I just know this torrid pace has been damned enjoyable to go through and I'm going to soak up every single minute of it.

And of course that's right when the joy ends and we completely forget how to play defense in losing 105-94 to the lowly fallen Suns. Ah well, at least it was on the road. Vince Carter scored 27 and Dan Jacobson had 11 points and 14 rebounds, but that was about it.

It's only when we lose badly, 110-99 to the Jazz in Utah the next game that I start worrying we're going to drop into an equally impressive swoon. Vince Carter scored 25 and all five starters broke double-digit points, but our defense is continuing to suddenly disappear.

The losing streak stretches to three with a 79-71 loss to the Spurs that was just plain ugly, with 33% shooting on both sides. Dan Jacobson did double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, though and even better, we break the cold snap the next night in a 121-110 triumph over Portland. Vince Carter scores 30, Mateen Yeaton scores 22, Kirk Hinrich really leads the offense with 24 points and 16 assists, Dan Jacobson throws in 11 points and 13 rebounds and Phillip Gill leads the second unit with 12 points.

So with 10 games left in the season, we've all but mathematically clinched the Northwest with a 9.5 game lead over the Timberwolves. At 51-21, we're not likely to catch the 57-15 Lakers for the top seed in the conference. As it is, we need to be more concerned about Dallas, as the Mavericks, even minus Devin Harris, are somehow 50-22 and right on our tails for the #2 seed.

Interesting stat: As of April 1st, all of the second-place teams in the West Conference divisons have 42 wins and two of the three third-place teams have 40 wins (Phoenix, which has really risen again, has 39 wins at 3rd in the Pacific).

Out in the East, it's a fairly safe bet to say the Raptors are going to have the top seed with 51-21, as the Bobcats and Pacers are quite a few games off the pace at 46-26 and 45-26 respectively. That said, Indiana's in an intriguing mirror race for their own conference's second seed. And so the fates of Mateen Yeaton and Paulinho Buboltz continue to intertwine...

Speaking of which...

Yeaton/Buboltz Comparison

Mateen Yeaton
72 games/72 starts - 23.3 PPG 5.3 RPG 2.3 APG 1.9 BPG 1.6 SPG

Paulinho Buboltz
71 games/66 starts - 16.6 PPG 2.9 RPG 9.5 APG 0.7 BPG 1.2 SPG

A couple notes here:

Buboltz is still the second-leading scorer for Indiana, with an identical point total to last month when I forgot to post the comparison.

The 9.5 assists naturally leads the Pacers, but in counterpoint, Kirk Hinrich is averaging 10.7 assists for us, along with 15 points on the nose.