Brian Cardinal

(Other possibilities for this type of trade included Portland with Sean Marks, Utah with Francisco Elson, Dallas with Brian Cardinal and Orlando with Malik Allen. As mentioned elsewhere, Marks was dealt elsewhere; however, the other three teams held onto their little-used veteran big men, and will now pay luxury tax on their salaries. To put that into context, that troika of treasure have combined this far this season for 99 games and 1,093 minutes played, 235 points, 163 points and 146 fouls, all for a combined $5,126,334 after tax. Their teams clearly value them anyway, but enough to pay luxury tax on them? Seems so.)

In some additional related bookkeeping, the reason for many of the players listed in the previous list was due to the NBA's contract guarantee date. All players on NBA rosters on or after January 10th have their contracts guaranteed for the remainder of the season (future seasons are unaffected); this also includes waivers. In-season waivers are 48 hours long and do not include weekends; therefore, with the 10th of January being a Monday, players had to be waived by close of business on Wednesday 5th in order to have cleared waivers before the deadline date.

Eleven players with not fully guaranteed contracts were waived in the hours before that deadline: Steve Novak, Damien Wilkins, Jarron Collins, John Lucas III, Ime Udoka, Lester Hudson, Ronald Dupree, Brian Skinner, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Sundiata Gaines and Rodney Carney. Twenty seven unguaranteed players survived; Delonte West, Von Wafer, Brian Scalabrine, Samardo Samuels, Manny Harris, Alonzo Gee, Brian Cardinal, Melvin Ely, Gary Forbes, Jeremy Lin, Ish Smith, A.J. Price, Ike Diogu, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Ben Uzoh, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, Shawne Williams, Malik Allen, Garret Siler, Patty Mills, Sean Marks, Darnell Jackson, Chris Quinn, Sonny Weems, Jeremy Evans, Cartier Martin and Hamady Ndiaye. Players with contracts who had already become guaranteed due to specific guarantee stipulations in their contracts were Sherron Collins, Derrick Brown, Josh McRoberts, Willie Warren, Derrick Caracter, Luther Head and Joey Dorsey.

Time was when Brian Cardinal was a high quality NBA role player. But Cardinal is now 33 years old, and it's an old 33. The health of his knees has been in decline for years, and it's taken his productivity with it. Last year for Minnesota, Cardinal played only 267 minutes, totalling 48 points, 29 rebounds, 24 assists and 56 fouls. He can still hit open threes, and still knows how and when to pass, but he can't defend, rebound or shoot 48% any more. Sadly, just as that ambitious contract given to him by Jerry West finally expires, Brian Cardinal looks done.

Brian Cardinal - Gone are the days of Brian Cardinal, the overpaid yet underrated little things player and decent defender. The knees have gone, and with them has gone his production. Last season, in two separate stints with the Timberwolves, Cardinal returned totals of 48 points, 29 rebounds, 24 assists and 56 fouls. He has played over 440 minutes only once in the last five seasons, and has been kept in the league solely on the basis of his contract, which has now expired. Cardinal was a genuinely decent player for a while, but that time has passed. I only hope that David Kahn knows this.

The other extremely active team at the deadline was the Knicks, who completed three trades of their own. One of them was the brilliantly pointless Darko Milicic for Brian Cardinal deal; Cardinal has already been waived, and Darko has already said he's going back to Europe once this season is over, which makes the logic behind the deal beautifully pointless (and inevitably, financially motivated; Cardinal's smaller cap number means less tax for the Knicks, and the cash New York gave up makes Milicic cheaper than Cardinal for Minnesota. Or at least the same cost.)