[Izulde]

We've got activity to report from December.

Philadelphia 76ers receive:
SG Stephen Jackson
New York Knicks 2014 2nd round pick

New York Knicks receive
PG Jefferson Flint

What this means for the 76ers
Jackson's 35, but he can play both guard spots and SF while providing some offense and defense off the bench in addition to being an expiring min-sal deal. The biggest value appears to be the probable high 2nd round pick.

What this means for the Knicks
Flint's a 24 year old 3rd year taken at 1.23 by the Suns in the 2011 draft. He hasn't ever developed and it doesn't look like he ever will. More tellingly, even with Johnny Willias, New York's starting PG out with a broken foot, Jefferson's still on the inactive list. Hard to tell why the Knicks made this trade, given all the youth they have in their backcourt, but then again, it's the Knicks and that's probably answer enough.

Advantage: Philadelphia
The 76ers actually get something for their end of the deal.

Detroit Pistons receive
SF Bobby Simmons

Boston Celtics receive
PF Nene Hilario

What this means for the Pistons
Simmons is a good shooter and defender, able to play SG/SF/PF and even better, he's an expiring $6.6 million contract. While it's questionable just how much playing time he'll get with Detroit, he's a nice addition to any team, even at 33.

What this means for the Celtics
Nene is an average all-around player and he quickly fell out of favor after his first season in Detroit. That said, he fills a gaping hole for Boston, which lacked any kind of quality depth that could play the five and since he's 31, the two years left on his contract isn't too horrendous.

Advantage: Draw
A little something for each team, with a little drawback for each situation.

Seattle Supersonics receive
SG Richard Hamilton

New Jersey Nets receive
C Robert Swift

What this means for the Supersonics
Hamilton's a brilliant shooter who plays okay defense even at 35 and he's a mid-sized expiring contract. He gives Seattle some instant offense, not that they really needed anymore, particularly not on their bench.

What this means for the Nets
28 year old Swift is a good rebounder, shotblocker and defender and that's about it. He's considerably overpriced at $5 million and change for the next two years and it's doubtful he'll see many minutes at all, given New Jersey's glut of quality young big men.

Advantage: Seattle
In a case of two franchises stocking up on their strengths, Hamilton's expiring contract gives the Sonics the edge.

Philadelphia 76ers receive
SF Courtney Jones

Atlanta Hawks receive
SF Charles Elleby

What this means for the 76ers
It's telling just how weak Philadelphia is at SG when the absolutely uninspiring 26 year old, 4th year Jones is the starter there. Given that hole, it's surprising the 76ers have a winning record, but at least he does represent an improvement at the spot.

What this means for the Hawks
Elleby is very average and 25. He plays both forward spots and that's about it. He's also quite buried on Atlanta's bench.

Advantage: Philadelphia
The 76ers get a starter. The Hawks got somebody it felt like they were trading just to make a trade.

Detroit Pistons receive
PG Kenny Graham
Golden State Warriors 2014 2nd round pick

Golden State Warriors receive
SG Rico Wolfe
SF Raymond Badu

What this means for the Pistons
Graham, 22 years old, in his 3rd season after being taken at 1.13 in 2011 by the Warriors. He was something of an attitude problem in Golden State, which is why he's being traded, but his talents are delicious. Already one of the top passers in the league, he's having a breakout season offensively, averaging 16.3 points and he's working on developing his shooting all the more. Needless to say, he instantly becomes Detroit's starting PG, something they needed. The 2nd rounder's just a small cherry for the top.

What this means for the Warriors
The 21 year old, 2nd season Wolfe is raw, but has some potential, particularly on the defensive end (taken 1.24 last year by the Pistons). He can play PG/SG/SF and may see some time thanks to that versatility. The 24 year old Badu, Detroit's 2nd rounder last year, is a throwaway type, particularly given he can only play SF.

Advantage: Detroit
Attitude problems or not, Graham has all the makings of being a star in this league and this 2 for 1 deal is extremely heavily weighted to the 1, especially when the bonus 2nd rounder looks quite high indeed.

I should've known there'd be a flurry of activity after the quiet of the first month. I'm really impressed with Detroit's ability to rob Golden State for Graham, even though he may be unhappy given that the Pistons aren't that much better than the Warriors right now.

Things start off this month for us with a nasty set of doubleheaders. The first one pairs up against San Antonio and Houston. We pull off the 10-point upset on the road against the Spurs, 115-105, as Kirk Hinrich doubles with 25 points and 12 assists, Patrick Pastner scores 25, Dan Jacobson doubles with 16 points and 20 rebounds and our bench goes into scoring fun with 14 points from Mike Miller and 12 points from Steven Caspers. We crush the Rockets 110-77 in an impressive result. Patrick Pastner has a great game with 21 points, 4 assists, 7 rebounds, a block and 4 steals. Mateen Yeaton scores 20 and Emeka Okafor double-doubles with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Our reserves are led by Mike Miller with 19 points and Shaun Livingston just breaking the double-digit point barrier with 10.

Tracy McGrady scores 35 points against us as the Kings prevail 96-87. Our offense pretty much fell asleep, save for Mike Miller with 21 points off the bench and middling doubles of 10 points and 15 rebounds and 14 points and 14 rebounds respectively from Dan Jacobson and Emeka Okafor. Things look even grimmer in a 113-103 home loss to the Lakers, despite 23 points and 13 assists from Kirk Hinrich, 20 points from Patrick Pastner. 12 points and 10 rebounds from Dan Jacobson and 10 bench points from Mike Miller. We need to solve the Purple and Gold riddle if we want to get back on top.

We take out our frustrations on the Timberwolves, whipping Minnesota 91-70. Mateen Yeaton scores 23 and Kirk Hinrich passes out 10 assists to go with his 18 points. One thing I've noticed is that Yeaton is an extremely streaky shooter. He'll go through periods of lights out scoring and then he'll go through stretches of drought. That could be dangerous come playoff time if he's not the AI type I figured him to be.

Seattle and Golden State back to back on the road is up next and we're playing both games without the services of Mike Miller, who's out with a pulled groin. We beat the Warriors handily, 90-76, in a curious game. Our stars, if you can call them that, are Emeka Okafor with 10 points and 10 boards, Dan Jacobson with 10 points and 15 rebounds and Steven Caspers with 11 bench points. It felt a lot like a minor conference college game. But the jets are turned back on, way on against the Supersonics and we just edge Seattle, 108-105. Kirk Hinrich blisters Seattle for 35 points and 10 assists, Mateen Yeaton scores 22 and Steven Caspers adds 10 points to lead the second team.

After those two games and seeing what we'd look like without Mike Miller, I'm definitely keeping him through at least this season before I try and offload his ghastly contract.

Memphis goes down 94-75 next game as Dan Jacobson looks great with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Emeka Okafor puts up 10 points and 14 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich contributes 20 points and 11 assists.

The Mavericks fall 109-97 on their own home court, thanks to Mateen Yeaton's 27 points, Emeka Okafor's 12 points and 12 rebounds, Kirk Hinrich's 10 points and 14 assists, Shaun Livingston's 10 bench points and a very pleasant and unexpected 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench from Pavel Podkolzin. Jonte Jones is still great for Dallas, as is Dirk Nowitzki, but my impression is that the Mavericks are looking like a really old team and that's only going to get worse as the season goes on.

Two back-to-backs on the road against the Central Divison comprise our next four games. Chicago and Detroit are our first stops and we win both places. Mateen Yeaton scores 34, Dan Jacobson double-doubles with 22 points and 14 rebounds, Patrick Pastner adds 21 points and Marcus Williams has 12 bench points as we celebrate Phillip Gill's return with a 106-100 victory over the Bulls. Kirk Hinrich singlehandedly bails us out in a 92-89 nailbiter over the Pistons with 36 points. Nobody else played well enough to get a mention.

Milwaukee and Indiana cap off the four-game road Central tour and you can bet that the anticipation for the Pacers game was off the hook. Unfortunately, we got caught looking ahead to Indiana and the Bucks ambushed us 99-77. Only Mateen Yeaton came to play with 24 points and 10 rebounds. We were so shell-shocked by the loss, the Pacers smacked us in the face 109-91. Sure, Mateen Yeaton scored 20, Dan Jacobson had 12 points and 17 rebounds, Kirk Hinrich 16 points and 11 assists and yeah, Mike Miller scored 12 from the bench. But Ben Gordon scored 33 and a slew of double-doubles came rolling in for Indiana: Joakim Noah (14 points, 11 rebounds), Jermaine O'Neal (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Paulinho Buboltz (10 points, 13 assists). Tony Parker paced the Pacers second unit with 12 points. So yeah, every former Nugget on that team came out like gangbusters to prove I was wrong in trading them.

And maybe I was wrong. We won't know until the end of the season, I suppose. Maybe not even the end of this season.

It looks like the manner in which we lost those two games really has an effect on the team's psyche, because we promptly go out and lose our last two games of the month in a doubleheader. Bad enough by itself, worse when one of them is a 109-96 home loss to the New York Knicks. Mateen Yeaton's 28 points don't make me smile that night, nor do the 12 bench points from the newly returned Mike Miller or the 12 points and 10 assists with the second team by Marcus Williams. As for the 89-78 loss to Portland? At least that was on the road. But even being on the road and watching Mateen Yeaton score 23 and good second team play with 14 points from Mike Miller and 20 rebounds from Phillip Gill can't excuse the fact that we have a four-game losing streak for the first time since I've been in Denver.

Our lead in the Northwest is comfortable despite the run of poor form, as our 31-15 record is good for a five-game advantage on Minnesota and Utah. But the Mavericks are ahead of us by 2 games in the race for the #2 spot in the West and the Lakers still reign supreme with a 38-5 showing. Every team in the Northwest has a winning record, by the way, save for Seattle, who is mired in an 18-26 funk.

The Pacers have been hot lately, hot enough to rocket up to 27-17 and enjoy a 6.5 game lead over the Bucks. That's good enough for the 3rd seed right now as they continue to be the mirror image of us in a lot of ways. Toronto's reasserted themselves as the masters of the East with a 32-14 record, three games ahead of the Celtics. Charlotte's facing a challenge in the Southeast, as they're just 2.5 ahead of the surging Magic.

Given our slump, I don't even want to compare Paulinho Buboltz and Mateen Yeaton right now, but I will.

Buboltz-Yeaton Comparison
Paulinho Buboltz
44 games/39 starts - 15.5 PPG 3.0 RPG 9.8 APG 0.7 BPG 1.2 SPG
Mateen Yeaton
46 games/46 starts - 22.6 PPG 4.8 RPG 2.0 APG 1.8 BPG 1.6 SPG

Another kicker that I couldn't help but look up--Ben Gordon is averaging 28 points a game, 2nd in the NBA behind King James with 30.6. Mateen's 8th with his 22.6.