By Nick Zelano
BU News Service

The flurry of trades before the NBA deadline began a day early on Wednesday when the Los Angeles Lakers sent journeyman point guard Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors for MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore.  The trade should help the bench production of the Warriors who rank 29^th in the league in bench points and the Lakers save a few million off of luxury tax bills by shipping off Blake.

The first official trade of Thursday was when the Philadelphia 76ers traded center Spencer Hawes to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  In return the 76ers got two second-round draft picks and back ups Earl Clark and Henry Sims. Neither Clark nor Sims are guaranteed any money after this season which means the 76ers can cut them at the end of the year. The 76ers are looking to stock pile draft picks to help rebuild and also dispose any big money on their roster.

The 76ers were involved with two other deals on deadline day that sent big names to big places. In what was perhaps the biggest deal from Thursday, the 76ers traded away guard Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen to the Indiana Pacers for former All-Star Danny Granger. Granger has been struggling this year and the Pacers perhaps upgraded by getting Turner.

Philadelphia’s third deal of the day involved the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards. The Nuggets sent off point guard Andre Miller to the Wizards. Washington sent a second-round pick and Eric Maynor to Philadelphia, while sending former lottery pick Jan Vesely to Denver. Denver also sent a second round draft pick to the 76ers.

Though the 76ers were done for the day, a few more trades went on. The Miami Heat sent benchwarmer Roger Mason Jr. to the Sacramento Kings with cash for a protected second round draft pick. The Heat will probably never see that pick due to it being protected by contract jargon and did this for purely luxury tax reasons.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Bobcats exchanged three guards today in a trade that included Ramon Sessions, Gary Neal, and Luke Ridnour.  Charlotte wanted outside shooting help so went out to get Neal and Ridnour from the Bucks. Though the Bobcats respect Sessions, the number eight seed in the Eastern Conference had a need so they went out and got some shooters.

The Houston Rockets once again traded Aaron Brooks for the second time in his career. This time it was to the Denver Nuggets for swingman Jordan Hamilton. The Nuggets need point guard help without Nate Robinson playing and now Andre Miller gone.

Finally, the San Antonio Spurs traded away Nande De Colo to the Toronto Raptors for the young Austin Daye. The deal might have been purely money based with De Colo being a restricted free agent at the end of this year and Daye who can be bought out of his contract for next season for a quarter of a million dollars.