NBA Draft Sees Movement, But Nothing Earth-Shattering

Several NBA trades highlighted the 2011 draft, although none were technically earth-shattering blockbusters. Since some thought Thursday's trades would involve the likes of Steve Nash and Tony Parker, it may have been disappointing that no big names like that were moved. However, given that the NBA is close to a long and difficult lockout, the draft was one of the last real chances for teams to make a good deal.

Though Nash, Parker, Lamar Odom, Andre Iguodala and other established stars stayed put, a lot of picks did move around. The biggest deal of the night involved the Kings trading No. 7 selection Bismack Biyombo for the No. 10 pick. This may have seemed like a step down, but it probably wasn't, since the Bucks took Jimmer Fredette at No. 10.

Now all the questions about whether Fredette can dazzle at the NBA level will be answered in Sacramento. Months ago, it didn't look like Sacramento would keep the Kings, but now the city and the team are staying together and bringing in the NCAA player of the year. But the Bucks didn't go away empty-handed, as the three-way deal allowed Milwaukee to get Stephen Jackson from the Bobcats.

Meanwhile, the Blazers, Nuggets and Mavericks swapped around the No. 26 and No. 57 picks, although they were secondary parts of the deal. Denver also got Portland's veteran leader Andre Miller, while the Blazers received Raymond Felton and defending champion Dallas added Rudy Fernandez.

As for the Spurs, they were rumored to have put Parker on the market in an attempt to shore up their aging team. While San Antonio did make a move, it didn't involve Parker, yet it still got both the No. 15 and No. 42 selections from Indiana.

This gave the Spurs an injection of youth in the form of Kawhi Leonard and Davis Bertans, yet the team had to give up bench star George Hill to do it. Time will tell if this does anything to help the Spurs' battle with father time. If the lockout wipes out the 2011-12 season, it certainly won't help San Antonio in that fight.

All of these trades may prove to be crucial whenever basketball comes back, yet none of them were seen as franchise-changing. But that is fitting, since there were very few franchise-changing players in the draft class as well.

As such, teams that might have wanted to get rid of established stars are mostly still stuck with them, and may be until the lockout ends and a new CBA changes everything. If the draft marked the end of the current era in the NBA, then both the selections and the trade maneuvers ended it with uncertainty and doubt instead of a bang.

Sources

Yahoo! Sports- "NBA draft 2011 trade breakdown"

SB Nation- "NBA Trades Abound On Draft Night; We Attempt To Make Sense Of Them All"