NEW YORK (AP) - A four-team swap that sent Ruben Patterson from Portland to Denver was the biggest deal completed before the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.
Few big-name players - and no superstars - were among those moved. In fact, many of the 17 players who were traded might not even start for their new teams.
The biggest pre-deadline deal came on Wednesday, when the New York Knicks acquired guard Steve Francis from Orlando for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza.
Patterson and Earl Watson were the top players involved in the nine-player deal between Denver, Portland, Seattle and Sacramento.
Several teams did address needs with two months left in the regular season. The Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets added frontcourt depth, the SuperSonics got a backup point guard and the Trail Blazers freed up salary cap space.
"Rarely is it just a simple deal anymore. We spent a lot of time and effort to put a deal together," Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "In the end, I think it's a deal that really helps everybody and satisfies what everyone wanted to do."
Seattle sent forward Reggie Evans to Denver and Ukrainian center Vitaly Potapenko to Portland and received Watson, forward Byron Russell and a second-round pick from the Nuggets. Portland sent Patterson and Charles Smith to the Nuggets and acquired Voshon Lenard and forward Brian Skinner from Sacramento.
Portland then dealt Potapenko to the Kings along with Russia's Sergei Monia, and admitted the trade wasn't a blockbuster.
"It is what it is," Trail Blazers GM John Nash said. "We did at least do something that will help us in the long term."
In a separate deal, the Sonics sent guard Ronald Murray to Cleveland for Mike Wilks. Also, Miami acquired swingman Derek Anderson from Houston for Gerald Fitch.
The Hornets acquired forwards Marc Jackson and Linton Johnson III from the New Jersey Nets for Skovenian forward Bostjan Nachbar. New Orleans needed help up front after Chris Andersen was dismissed from the league for violating its drug policy, and Jackson Vroman broke his right wrist
"Both of them are physical. Both of them are aggressive," Hornets coach Byron Scott said by telephone. "It just gives us a different look."
The Philadelphia 76ers made one minor move, trading disappointing forward Lee Nailon and a 2006 second-round draft pick to the Cavaliers for a conditional second-rounder. Nailon hasn't played since the end of last month after he was arrested following a domestic dispute.
"There wasn't a deal to be made that would take us to the point where we were a better team," Philadelphia president Billy King said. "Rather than just do a deal, we decided just to do something tax-wise."
Besides salary considerations, it seemed the other motivating factors behind Thursday's deals were simply to move players who wanted out. Patterson was vocal about his wish to leave Portland. Evans, Lenard and Jackson also expressed their desire to leave the teams that traded them.
Patterson and Evans both ended up in Denver, and coach George Karl will welcome them if they give their normal strong efforts.
"I am a coach that believes that playing hard is the key to success in the NBA," Karl said. "And intensity and pride of playing hard has to be developed on the team. And for some reason this year we lost that, that characteristic."
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