NBA: Magic trade for Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, & Gilbert Arenas

The Orlando Magic made 2 key trades today that will hopefully help them get closer to winning an NBA title, which would be the first their franchise has ever won.

They traded Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a first round draft pick, and $3 million to the Phoenix Suns for Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Earl Clark. They also traded Rashard Lewis to the Washington Wizards for Gilbert Arenas.

Let me just start off by saying that, in my opinion, the Magic won both these trades.

Magic-Wizards Trade: Gilbert Arenas is statistically better than Rashard Lewis, who is not playing very well this season. Arenas isn't playing as well as he has in the past, but still has the edge overall over Lewis. Plus, I think this trade helps the Wizards too because they had John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, and Kirk Hinrich. They had too many guards, and now that they have Rashard Lewis, a forward, their roster is more balanced.

Magic-Suns Trade: Head-to-head, Jason Richardson is better than Vince Carter statistically, plus, VC is aging, while J-Rich is in the prime of his career. The other part of the trade, Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat for Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark was fairly even.

Magic Overall: Position-wise, they lost Rashard Lewis and gained Hedo Turkohlu at the forward position. Statistically, they look pretty even, with an slight edge to Lewis, but Lewis has been fairly disappointing to the Magic and is not really playing as good as he should considering the amount of money he's getting paid, while Turkoglu played an important and key role in the Magic's 2009 Finals run.

At the guard position, Jason Richardson has an obvious edge over Vince Carter. You could make an argument that VC has more experience, but statistically, physically, and historically, J-Rich is better than VC.

Plus they get Gilbert Arenas, a multiple-time all-star, for a bunch of role-playing bench players, a first round draft pick, and a crap-load of cash. And when your a championship-contending team, first round draft picks and cash don't really mean that much and you can afford to lose a few bench players. The picks and the money mean more to franchises that aren't likely to win championships.

I personally think that this trade will be the key factor in the Magic winning the 2011 NBA Championship.

Disagree with that last statement I made or have any thoughts on the trades the Magic have made? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

NBA: Top 5 Most Lopsided Trades since 2000

We've all seen trades occur that make us say, "What are they thinking?" or "Why did they do that?" Here are the top 10, in my opinion, most lopsided trades in NBA history, since 2000. 2006: Timberwolves get Randy Foye, Blazers get Brandon Roy Winner: Blazers Loser: T'Wolves Brandon Roy won the Rookie of the Year that season and later became an All-Star. Randy Foye didn't do any of those things. Enough said. 2000: Magic receive Grant Hill, Pistons get Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins Winner: Pistons Loser: Magic I can understand why the Magic made this trade, but it obviously didn't help the Magic and really helped the Pistons. During Grant Hill's tenure with the Magic he was constantly injured, he only played 4 games in his first season with the team, and didn't really ever play at the All-Star level that the Magic expected him to. Meanwhile, on the other side of the trade, Chucky Atkins developed into a solid point guard and Ben Wallace blossomed into an All-Star, winning 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards and helping the Pistons win the 2004 NBA Championship. 2005: Lakers receive Kwame Brown and Laron Profit, Wizards get Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins Winner: Wizards Loser: Lakers I honestly don't know what the Lakers were thinking when they made this trade. They traded away their solid starting point guard from the year before, Chucky Atkins, and an up-and-coming star, Caron Butler, for a draft-bust center, Kwame Brown, and a no-name bench player, Laron Profit. The following season, Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins combined for 25 points per game, 5 assists per game, and 2.2 steals per game, while Kwame and Laron combined for 11.6 points per game, 1.6 assists per game, and 0.8 steals per game. 2005: Hornets recieve Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis, Warriors recieve Baron Davis Winner: Warriors Loser: Hornets The Hornets must have really wanted to get rid of Baron Davis because they didn't get much in exchange for him. Now, the Hornets waived Dale Davis right after the trade was completed, so this trade was basically Davis for Claxton. Claxton had been averaging 13.1 points and 6.2 assists a game for the Warriors and Davis had been averaging 18.9 points and 7.2 assists per game for the Hornets. Davis' stats were obviously better than Claxton's, but not by too much. After the trade, however, Baron Davis really proved that the Hornets made a bad decision by trading him. For the Warriors that season, Davis improved in almost every stat category (points, blocks, steals, assists, rebounds, free-throw percentage, field goal percentage, and 3-point percentage). Claxton, on the other hand, did worse in every stat category with the Hornets that season (13.1 points to 6.8 points, 1.9 steals to 1.4 steals, 6.2 assists to 5.5 assists, 3.3 to 1.9 rebounds, you get the picture.) This trade didn't work out for the Hornets at all. 2001: Rockets get Eddie Griffin, Nets receive Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, and Brandon Armstrong Winner: Nets Loser: Rockets The Houston Rockets really got the bad end of this trade. I think we can see what they were trying to accomplish with making this trade, but the Nets knew better. This trade ended up helping the Nets reach the NBA Finals 2 seasons in a row, in 2002 and 2003, while the Rockets didn't even make the playoffs those 2 seasons. Let's look at the stats and see how lopsided this trade ended up being. During the 01-02 season, Jefferson, Collins, and Armstrong (who all were on the team the Nets reached the Finals twice) combined for 15.7 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game. Griffin, on the other hand, averaged 8.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 0.7 assists per game. If this trade had been Jefferson for Griffin, it would have been bad enough, considering that Jefferson blossomed into a borderline all-star, while Griffin never really lived up to his expectations and eventually crashed his car into a train and died. Congrats to the Nets and Rest in Peace Eddie Griffin. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2.We've all seen trades occur that make us say, "What are they thinking?" or "Why did they do that?" Here are the top 5, in my opinion, most lopsided trades in NBA history, since 2000.

5. 2000: Magic receive Grant Hill, Pistons get Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins
Winner: Pistons
Loser: Magic

I can understand why the Magic made this trade, but it obviously didn't help the Magic and really helped the Pistons. During Grant Hill's tenure with the Magic he was constantly injured, he only played 4 games in his first season with the team, and didn't really ever play at the All-Star level that the Magic expected him to. Meanwhile, on the other side of the trade, Chucky Atkins developed into a solid point guard and Ben Wallace blossomed into an All-Star, winning 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards and helping the Pistons win the 2004 NBA Championship.

4. 2001: Rockets get Eddie Griffin, Nets receive Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, and Brandon Armstrong
Winner: Nets
Loser: Rockets

The Houston Rockets really got the bad end of this trade. I think we can see what they were trying to accomplish with making this trade, but the Nets knew better.

This trade ended up helping the Nets reach the NBA Finals 2 seasons in a row, in 2002 and 2003, while the Rockets didn't even make the playoffs those 2 seasons.

Let's look at the stats and see how lopsided this trade ended up being. During the 01-02 season, Jefferson, Collins, and Armstrong (who all were on the team the Nets reached the Finals twice) combined for 15.7 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game. Griffin, on the other hand, averaged 8.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 0.7 assists per game. If this trade had been Jefferson for Griffin, it would have been bad enough, considering that Jefferson blossomed into a borderline all-star, while Griffin never really lived up to his expectations and eventually crashed his car into a train and died.

Congrats to the Nets and Rest in Peace, Eddie Griffin.

3. 2006: Timberwolves receive Randy Foye, Blazers get Brandon Roy
Winner: Blazers
Loser: T'Wolves

Brandon Roy won the Rookie of the Year that season, later became an All-Star, and helped lead his team to the playoffs multiple times. Randy Foye hasn't done any of those things. Enough said.

2. 2005: Hornets receive Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis, Warriors get Baron Davis

We've all seen trades occur that make us say, "What are they thinking?" or "Why did they do that?" Here are the top 10, in my opinion, most lopsided trades in NBA history, since 2000. 2006: Timberwolves get Randy Foye, Blazers get Brandon Roy Winner: Blazers Loser: T'Wolves Brandon Roy won the Rookie of the Year that season and later became an All-Star. Randy Foye didn't do any of those things. Enough said. 2000: Magic receive Grant Hill, Pistons get Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins Winner: Pistons Loser: Magic I can understand why the Magic made this trade, but it obviously didn't help the Magic and really helped the Pistons. During Grant Hill's tenure with the Magic he was constantly injured, he only played 4 games in his first season with the team, and didn't really ever play at the All-Star level that the Magic expected him to. Meanwhile, on the other side of the trade, Chucky Atkins developed into a solid point guard and Ben Wallace blossomed into an All-Star, winning 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards and helping the Pistons win the 2004 NBA Championship. 2005: Lakers receive Kwame Brown and Laron Profit, Wizards get Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins Winner: Wizards Loser: Lakers I honestly don't know what the Lakers were thinking when they made this trade. They traded away their solid starting point guard from the year before, Chucky Atkins, and an up-and-coming star, Caron Butler, for a draft-bust center, Kwame Brown, and a no-name bench player, Laron Profit. The following season, Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins combined for 25 points per game, 5 assists per game, and 2.2 steals per game, while Kwame and Laron combined for 11.6 points per game, 1.6 assists per game, and 0.8 steals per game. 2005: Hornets recieve Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis, Warriors recieve Baron Davis Winner: Warriors Loser: Hornets The Hornets must have really wanted to get rid of Baron Davis because they didn't get much in exchange for him. Now, the Hornets waived Dale Davis right after the trade was completed, so this trade was basically Davis for Claxton. Claxton had been averaging 13.1 points and 6.2 assists a game for the Warriors and Davis had been averaging 18.9 points and 7.2 assists per game for the Hornets. Davis' stats were obviously better than Claxton's, but not by too much. After the trade, however, Baron Davis really proved that the Hornets made a bad decision by trading him. For the Warriors that season, Davis improved in almost every stat category (points, blocks, steals, assists, rebounds, free-throw percentage, field goal percentage, and 3-point percentage). Claxton, on the other hand, did worse in every stat category with the Hornets that season (13.1 points to 6.8 points, 1.9 steals to 1.4 steals, 6.2 assists to 5.5 assists, 3.3 to 1.9 rebounds, you get the picture.) This trade didn't work out for the Hornets at all. 2001: Rockets get Eddie Griffin, Nets receive Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, and Brandon Armstrong Winner: Nets Loser: Rockets The Houston Rockets really got the bad end of this trade. I think we can see what they were trying to accomplish with making this trade, but the Nets knew better. This trade ended up helping the Nets reach the NBA Finals 2 seasons in a row, in 2002 and 2003, while the Rockets didn't even make the playoffs those 2 seasons. Let's look at the stats and see how lopsided this trade ended up being. During the 01-02 season, Jefferson, Collins, and Armstrong (who all were on the team the Nets reached the Finals twice) combined for 15.7 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game. Griffin, on the other hand, averaged 8.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 0.7 assists per game. If this trade had been Jefferson for Griffin, it would have been bad enough, considering that Jefferson blossomed into a borderline all-star, while Griffin never really lived up to his expectations and eventually crashed his car into a train and died. Congrats to the Nets and Rest in Peace Eddie Griffin. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

We've all seen trades occur that make us say, "What are they thinking?" or "Why did they do that?" Here are the top 10, in my opinion, most lopsided trades in NBA history, since 2000. 2006: Timberwolves get Randy Foye, Blazers get Brandon Roy Winner: Blazers Loser: T'Wolves Brandon Roy won the Rookie of the Year that season and later became an All-Star. Randy Foye didn't do any of those things. Enough said. 2000: Magic receive Grant Hill, Pistons get Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins Winner: Pistons Loser: Magic I can understand why the Magic made this trade, but it obviously didn't help the Magic and really helped the Pistons. During Grant Hill's tenure with the Magic he was constantly injured, he only played 4 games in his first season with the team, and didn't really ever play at the All-Star level that the Magic expected him to. Meanwhile, on the other side of the trade, Chucky Atkins developed into a solid point guard and Ben Wallace blossomed into an All-Star, winning 4 Defensive Player of the Year Awards and helping the Pistons win the 2004 NBA Championship. 2005: Lakers receive Kwame Brown and Laron Profit, Wizards get Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins Winner: Wizards Loser: Lakers I honestly don't know what the Lakers were thinking when they made this trade. They traded away their solid starting point guard from the year before, Chucky Atkins, and an up-and-coming star, Caron Butler, for a draft-bust center, Kwame Brown, and a no-name bench player, Laron Profit. The following season, Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins combined for 25 points per game, 5 assists per game, and 2.2 steals per game, while Kwame and Laron combined for 11.6 points per game, 1.6 assists per game, and 0.8 steals per game. 2005: Hornets recieve Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis, Warriors recieve Baron Davis Winner: Warriors Loser: Hornets The Hornets must have really wanted to get rid of Baron Davis because they didn't get much in exchange for him. Now, the Hornets waived Dale Davis right after the trade was completed, so this trade was basically Davis for Claxton. Claxton had been averaging 13.1 points and 6.2 assists a game for the Warriors and Davis had been averaging 18.9 points and 7.2 assists per game for the Hornets. Davis' stats were obviously better than Claxton's, but not by too much. After the trade, however, Baron Davis really proved that the Hornets made a bad decision by trading him. For the Warriors that season, Davis improved in almost every stat category (points, blocks, steals, assists, rebounds, free-throw percentage, field goal percentage, and 3-point percentage). Claxton, on the other hand, did worse in every stat category with the Hornets that season (13.1 points to 6.8 points, 1.9 steals to 1.4 steals, 6.2 assists to 5.5 assists, 3.3 to 1.9 rebounds, you get the picture.) This trade didn't work out for the Hornets at all. 2001: Rockets get Eddie Griffin, Nets receive Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, and Brandon Armstrong Winner: Nets Loser: Rockets The Houston Rockets really got the bad end of this trade. I think we can see what they were trying to accomplish with making this trade, but the Nets knew better. This trade ended up helping the Nets reach the NBA Finals 2 seasons in a row, in 2002 and 2003, while the Rockets didn't even make the playoffs those 2 seasons. Let's look at the stats and see how lopsided this trade ended up being. During the 01-02 season, Jefferson, Collins, and Armstrong (who all were on the team the Nets reached the Finals twice) combined for 15.7 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game. Griffin, on the other hand, averaged 8.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 0.7 assists per game. If this trade had been Jefferson for Griffin, it would have been bad enough, considering that Jefferson blossomed into a borderline all-star, while Griffin never really lived up to his expectations and eventually crashed his car into a train and died. Congrats to the Nets and Rest in Peace Eddie Griffin. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Winner: Warriors
Loser: Hornets

The Hornets must have really wanted to get rid of Baron Davis because they didn't get much in exchange for him. Now, the Hornets waived Dale Davis right after this trade was completed, so this trade was basically Davis for Claxton.

Claxton had been averaging 13.1 points and 6.2 assists a game for the Warriors and Davis had been averaging 18.9 points and 7.2 assists per game for the Hornets. Davis' stats were obviously better than Claxton's, but not by too much.

After the trade, however, Baron Davis really proved that the Hornets made a bad decision by trading him. For the Warriors that season, Davis improved in almost every stat category (points, blocks, steals, assists, rebounds, free-throw percentage, field goal percentage, and 3-point percentage). Claxton, on the other hand, did worse in every stat category with the Hornets that season (13.1 points to 6.8 points, 1.9 steals to 1.4 steals, 6.2 assists to 5.5 assists, 3.3 to 1.9 rebounds, you get the picture.) This trade didn't work out for the Hornets at all.

1. 2005: Lakers receive Kwame Brown and Laron Profit, Wizards get Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins
Winner: Wizards
Loser: Lakers

I honestly don't know what the Lakers were thinking when they made this trade. They traded away their solid starting point guard from the year before, Chucky Atkins, and an up-and-coming star, Caron Butler, for a draft-bust center, Kwame Brown, and a no-name bench player, Laron Profit.

The following season, Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins combined for 25 points per game, 5 assists per game, and 2.2 steals per game, while Kwame and Laron combined for 11.6 points per game, 1.6 assists per game, and 0.8 steals per game.

Disagree? Leave me a comment below and tell me what you think.