Five Terrific NBA Moves You May Have Missed

In every NBA season, several big-impact moves go relatively unnoticed. Most viewers of the league only look for big names and instant results, and thus often fail to notice the moves that count the most. Anyone can flip on ESPN and realize that the Celtics getting Garnett or the Lakers getting Gasol were good moves. But there are many other, smaller moves that have had profound impacts on teams across the NBA. Here are some you might have missed/forgotten about.

Houston Rockets Hire Rick Adelman - When this signing was first announced, media groups everywhere heralded it as a perfect fit. And a 6-1 start to the season seemed to prove just that. But in the following weeks, the team sputtered and failed to form an identity. As recently as January 15^th, the Rockets were 20-19, just two losses away from a losing record.

Then something changed. The team started to play better and everything started clicking. Since January 15^th, in fact, the team has only lost one more time, against sixteen more wins. Their recent stretch has solidified them back into the playoff race.

The average play early on could easily be explained by growing pains every team faces when adjusting to a new head coach. But for some reason, Adelman's contributions to the Rockets seems to be generally ignored across the board, for now.

Utah Jazz Trade For Kyle Korver - The Jazz were coming off a season in which they had reached the Western Conference Finals and were looking to improve. Instead, they came out flat and held a mediocre 16-16 record after thirty-two games. Their response to the early woes was to trade Gordon Girichek, a player in the enormous doghouse of Jerry Sloan, for sharpshooter Kyle Korver of the Philadelphia 76ers.

On the surface, this looked like a mediocre trade. Korver, although an excellent three-point shooter, had little depth to his game and was horrid defensively in Philadelphia. But the Jazz knew what they were doing, and the record shows it. Since the trade, Utah has gone 16-4; amazing considering what they acquired.

The reason this trade worked out so well for Utah was that Kyle gave the team something it didn't have, a three-point threat defenses had to respect. Korver's presence allowed the Jazz's bigger stars to have easier looks and the offense flowed better because of it. Now, at 36-20, the team is back where it expected to be all along.

Detroit Pistons Trade Nazr Mohammed - Losing Ben Wallace, while now a blessing in disguise, was a major hit to the Detroit Pistons two seasons ago. Wallace had been the centerpiece to a stellar frontcourt defense for many years and his loss hurt the team's identity and chances of winning.

To make up for the loss, Joe Dumars, in one of rare panic mistakes, signed Nazr Mohammed to a five year mid-level deal that would pay the oft-traveled center about six-million per season.

Big mistake. Within weeks, Nazr was regulated to limited minutes before finally being shelved completely. Mohammed was not the answer Detroit had needed and what was worse, his contract seemed to be an unshakeable burden on the team for the foreseeable future.

Then, in one fell swoop, Dumars traded Nazr to the Charlotte Bobcats for Walter Hermann and Primo Brezec, just one-and-a-half years into the disastrous contract. The key to this trade? Both players received by the Pistons have their contracts expire after this current season.

Most of the time, general managers have to beg other teams to take on bad contracts and pad deals with draft picks and other assets. Not in this deal. This move is a great example of one that has an enormous impact on a team's future, even if it has little to none in the current season.

Seattle Sonics Sign & Trade Rashard Lewis - I know what you're thinking, how can losing a terrific scorer be considered a good move? Well, consider this. Rashard Lewis was vastly overpaid by Orlando and was going to leave Seattle no matter what. Seattle knew this. So what did newly hired general manager Sam Presti do?

He signed Lewis himself and traded him to the Magic. The trade gave the team an invisible, yet valuable, asset called a trade exception. The trade exception basically means that a team gets savings of such-and-such dollars but can trade the savings for other players if they choose.

The Sonics did indeed choose to trade their exception to another team; the Phoenix Suns. In return they got Kurt Thomas and two first round picks. Then, during the recent trading deadline, the Sonics traded Kurt Thomas to the San Antonio Spurs and got another first round pick.

To sum up, Sam Presti turned nothing into three first-round draft picks. He turned a negative, a marquee player leaving for another team, into a huge positive for a rebuilding squad. Not bad, huh?

Los Angeles Lakers Sign Derek Fisher - The other major move made by the Lakers this season happened before a single game had been played. Fisher had a history with the Lakers, as he was the player who hit a game-winning shot against the San Antonio Spurs with 0.4 seconds left in 2004. But he had since left the team for greener pastures.

After being bought out by the Jazz for personal reasons, however, the Lakers were quick to pounce on the veteran point guard. Fisher's numbers are nothing to jump up-and-down about. In fact, under three assists is downright terrible for a point guard by normal standards!

But one has to remember that the Lakers play in a triangle offense where the point guard has less control over the ball. Fisher's signing gave the team another veteran leader who will make the right decisions down the stretch of a close game. And given the recent Pau Gasol trade, the Lakers just might be playing in important games late into the summer.

These are just a few examples of under-the-radar moves that happen every NBA season. Keep your eyes open and you might be able to spot a few next summer and beyond!