We were told that Kevin Garnett might be on the move or, if not, then the Boston Celtics might trade Hall of Fame teammate Paul Pierce. Or maybe Rajon Rondo.
None of the above came to pass, however. It looked, too, like Josh Smith would be on the move from Atlanta, but he stayed put with the Hawks.
At the very least, we?d have a Paul Millsap deal, right? Or Andrea Bargnani? Richard Hamilton, anyone?
Nope. Instead, our deadline day headliner in the NBA was none other than J.J. Redick, who was at one point in his career considered a bust out of Duke, but has since rehabbed his career into that of a very effective off-the-bench scorer.
He is averaging 15.1 points this year, on 45.0 percent shooting and, most important, 39.0 percent 3-point shooting.
To get him, the Milwaukee Bucks gave up only reserve guard Beno Udrih, rookie shooter Doron Lamb and small forward Tobias Harris, also taking back Gustavo Ayon and Ish Smith.
There was activity on this day. But it was mostly clerical, and mostly involved the shuffling of little-used bench guys from one team to the other.
MORE: Recap of deals on NBA trade deadline day
Why the Charlotte Bobcats, for example, felt the need to deal Hakim Warrick (7.0 points in 17.9 minutes) to the Orlando Magic for Josh McRoberts (3.9 points in 16.7 minutes) remains a mystery, but it was that kind of deal that typified a day on which Ronnie Brewer, Dexter Pittman, Eric Maynor, Hamed Haddadi, Anthony Morrow, Jeremy Tyler, Dahntay Jones and a cast of dozens were dealt in remarkably minor deals.
Which left two teams very much involved in the Eastern Conference playoff race standing as the winners in this massive shuffle?the Bucks, because they got Redick, and the Heat, because no other contender in the East, or West, did anything of significance.
Try as they did to get Smith, the Bucks wound up with a decent enough consolation prize in Redick.
One of the chief problems with the team has been the over-reliance, offensively, on the backcourt of Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings. Both players can score, but neither does it very efficiently. Jennings shoots 40.3 percent from the floor but does make 37.0 percent of his 3s, which is a big step up from Ellis? shooting numbers (39.9 percent, 22.8 percent from the 3-point line).
If you?re not going to get good offense from both guys, it?s tough to justify how much having two point guards costs you on defense.
That?s where Redick comes in, able to fill in at shooting guard while either Jennings or Ellis rests, allow the Bucks to rein in their need to go with two point men. The Bucks are 21st in 3-point shooting at 34.8 percent, and they should improve there immediately if Ellis sacrifices some of his perimeter bricks and allows more shots for Redick.
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Milwaukee is 26-27 and, having lost eight of their last 10, the Bucks needed something to change up their fortunes.
Redick will help them fend off the hard-charging Raptors in the East, as well as the Sixers, who could get Andrew Bynum back at some point in the stretch run. Milwaukee is only a game behind the Celtics for the No. 7 seed, and has already won the season series with Boston.
But it is at the top of the East where deadline day had its most satisfying result for a team.
All the Heat did was unload Dexter Pittman, creating a roster spot in case a veteran big man shakes loose in a buyout.
But consider the top of the East beyond Miami: The Knicks did nothing but give away and sign Kenyon Martin, the Nets were not able to pull together a package for Smith or Pierce, the Celtics added only Jordan Crawford, the Pacers missed on Redick and, now, the Bulls are undergoing some internal strife. Any chance for a potential threat to the Heat to arise on deadline day vanished.
If there is reason for confidence from Miami in its quest to win the East, the Finals aren?t looking bad, either. Talk of the Spurs, Thunder or Clippers making upgrades went nowhere, too. They all stood pat, and while the winner of the West does not figure to be a pushover in the Finals, assuming Miami gets there, there is no question the Heat would be favored over any of those three teams in a potential NBA championship series.
A very quiet day, then, yields one team with a much better shot at earning the East?s final playoff spot. And keeps in place a cakewalk to the Finals for the defending champs next spring.
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