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Breakdown of the top teams following Deadline Day.
The Lakers
Their lack of participation is hardly surprising, though I bet a few other teams are glad they didn't make a move.
The major rumoured move was for them to acquire Kirk Hinrich. I think most people, including PJ, that Fisher is no longer a NBA quality starter. He's just lucky enough that he has a multiple all-stars around him to make appear better then he is. And Farmar and Brown aren't much of an upgrade, if at all.
It's been a while since an NBA team has won a championship without a decent PG, yet the Lakers are going for two in a row. The main advantage they have is that the two major contenders in the West, the Nuggets and Mavs, have PGs on the wrong side of 30. They won't worry much about Kidd or Billups burning Fisher. They can always throw the athletic Brown at one of those 2 on defense, and allow Kobe to play the point.
While the Lakers could have done with the services of Hinrich, even the Buss' aren't too keen on taking on extra money, though they just gave Gasol $60 million... the Lakers seem content with what they've got - and you can't really blame them.
They won it last year, and added Artest in the off-season (Artest meanwhile is the most disappointing player this season. Not for his on field performance - which has been pretty good - but for the lack of shenanigans off the court. Come on, Artest in LA seemed a recipe for disaster. I fully expected stories leaking out about Artest punching Lindsey Lohan in the stomach, or him adopting 7 African kids in an attempt to be accepted by Pitt and Co.).
I am willing to bet though that if the Nuggets made a big trade, the Lakers would have been more active on the trade discussion front.
The Nuggets
Speaking of which, the Nuggets once again failed to add anything to their side. They are fringe contenders, one big man away from being a top 3 side. If they got themselves Tyrus Thomas or Troy Murphy, then they suddenly would have had a strong, 8 man deep rotation.
Unfortunately they couldn't make anything happen, but I don't think it was because of lack of effort. They just didn't have any pieces to offer (expiring contracts, draft picks, etc) except for JR Smith, who they value too highly. As potentially great a player JR is, he no longer provides the Nuggets with the spark he did previous years.
 With Melo's improvement, Nene's consistency, K-Mart's blast from the past form, Chauncey's ability to still knock down the 3 and Lawson's instant development into a 6th man, they can score 120 on any given night with or without him. Do they really need another flat out scorer? They'd have been better off trading him for some more depth at the forward position. Birdman's good, but you won't beat the Cavs or Lakers with him playing 20+ minutes.
K-Mart's has provided them with another solid option in the post this season, and seems to have worked on his mid range jumper a lot over the past year. You give them an athletic forward in Tyrus Thomas, and they have a crapload of options.
They'll look at getting another big man off waivers, maybe Kenny Thomas or the like, but whether that's enough come May against Gasol and Bynum remains to be seen.
The Mavs
They made the earliest move, but not necessarily the best. Caron Butler makes them better then before, but not enough to topple the Lakers - or even the Nuggets, who comprehensively beat them last season in that infamous WWE-esque version of a playoff series. They started hot but have struggled recently, which is what you have to expect from a team where your five best players are all over 30.
I actually like the Haywood acquisition more then Butler. He's a very underrated player, hidden away behind Washington's The Big (Disappointment) 3. He's a solid rebounder, one of the better defenders, and can provide 5-6 baskets a night. The Mavs have always struggled to provide Dirk with a front court partner, and Haywood's as perfect as they're gonna get. He can control the paint, allowing Dirk less responsibilty in defense and more freedom in attack.
And it allows Dirk to play as a natural 4, something he's never been able to do. Not only that, but he's young and they should be able to get a few quality years from him.
I don't think they've got enough to beat a Lakers or Nuggets (or even a Blazers) side over 7 games, but as always with them, you have to applaud them for trying.
The Cavs
Major winners on D-Day just behind the Rockets.
They gain a All-Star quality forward and give up nothing (assuming they re-sign Big Z). Add the fact they got Shaq for free as well in the off-season, and suddenly they look A LOT more imposing then last season. With (sometimes) hot shooters in Mo Williams and Delonte West, the most dominant guy in the league since Jordan in LeBron, and a front court of Jamison and Shaq, with $50 million man Varajao and Big Z off the bench, that's a scary, scary lineup.
Jamison can put up 30/15 on any given night. He's perfect for the Cavs. He can defend any forward in the league, works relentlessly on the boards, has great post game and can space the paint by hanging round the perimeter, knocking down the 3 ball if left open. You can't double Shaq because Jamison will hurt you, but, even with him aging and decreasing in talent, you can't single cover Shaq for an entire game. They've surrounded Shaq, one of the best passing big men of all time, with some decent role players that can hit open jumpers from the perimeter if left open. And then you've got LeBron James... I can't even think how you'd play these guys come playoff time.
Celtics
The Nate move doesn't really make sense, and appeared to be them making a move for the sake of making a move. He can be explosive and a great scoring threat, but so can Eddie House. House can easily drop 30 in a game if he gets hot. Nate is perhaps a better defender, but I don't trust him at all to play the point in the slow, halfcourt offense Boston run.
 He's going from a D'Antoni plan of "shoot-it-as-much-as-you-can" to the Celtics "don't-you-dare-do-anything-stupid-or-KG-will-glare-you-to-death" offense (unless you're Rasheed Wallace, in which case you can throw up brick after brick). I don't know how many pullup 30 foot jumpshots KG and Doc can take before they shove Nate in a locker and throw away the key.
And what about Marquis Daniels? I know he hasnt had the chance yet to prove his worth, but I'd take him over Nate at point guard.
I do think however that they were right in not trading Ray Ray. They've got the right piece to challenge the top sides. Sheed provides them with another big body to bang with Shaq and Howard, assuming he soon realizes he's not a 6"10 shooting guard who can't shoot. Pierce can still turn it on, as he showed earlier in the season.
But really? It's all down to KG. If he is 100% healthy, they can beat anyone. But he's not healthy, and never will be, so I can't see them making it past the 2nd round.
The Magic
Didn't make a move, nor even seem like it.
They made their moves this off-season, going all in on the Vince Carter trade and Gortat re-signing. On paper, they seem sweet in every position. The only move I could have seen them make was trading Bass for a future draft pick, and/or backup point guard. He's not bringing anything to the team and they'd be better off giving his minutes to Gortat and Anderson.
I would have like to have seen a Bass for Mario Chalmers trade. Chalmers would kill it in the inside/outside game the Magic play.
As they are now, they are still a good chance to return to the Finals, albeit not as strong as they seemed in the preseason. I can't see them having troubles against the Celtics, but I think the recent acquisition of Jamison may be the difference between the Cavs and Magic come ECF time. The Cavs have added Shaq as a Howard Problem Solver, and Jamison will cause a lot more problems for Shard and Anderson then Varejao did last season. They are going to have to rely on heating up in the playoffs and hitting majority of their 3 bombs if they are to succeed.
Vince will be their key. He's a proven big game player. Playoff games regularly come down to the final play, and they'll need him to pull out a few more vintage Vinsanity clutch moments (he just needs to imagine he's playing the Raptors in Toronto every game. That seems to get him fired up).
So who's favoured to win the East? It'll be tight and entertaining, but I'm going with the Cavs. Put it this way, if you're a Lakers or Nuggets fan, you'd prefer to play the Magic in the Finals then the Cavs.
Kudos to the Bucks, Rockets, and Blazers who went against the grain and were willing to take on future money, taking advantage of delirious and desperate teams chasing LeBron and Co.
Salmons is a great pickup for the Bucks as a replacement for Redd. They'll trade Redd and his massive expiring contract this off-season, and can finally rebuild around Jennings, Bogut, and the other young talent they have like Ilyasova. Plus they instantly become a lot better, and can make a charge for the playoffs this season. I'd love nothing more then for them to take the 8th spot from the Bulls, who basically gave away this season for the minor chance Wade decides he's sick of the hot Miami beaches and even hot Miami babes, and has an sudden urge to go be coached by Vinny Del Negro.
 The Blazers got a good temporary fix in Camby. They aren't going to contend this season, buts it's great to see a side not completely give up on the season and attempt to give their fan base something to cheer about for the rest of the season. They've been dealt some horror luck with injuries this season, so you have to admire them for still trying to win. It's tough for the Blazers, their future looked so much brighter than it did a couple seasons ago. Now, their two most important players, Roy and Oden, are lucky to play 82 games a season between them, and they've just committed $60 million to Aldridge, and $25 million to Andre Miller. I'm seeing a decade of 1st and 2nd round playoff exits to come. Just imagine if they'd picked Durant.
Ok... Blazers fans can now go slit their wrists...
As for Houston, wow. Seriously, look what they got for the Artist Formally Known As Tracey McGrady. A still young Kevin Martin, giving them a proven scorer and big game player, who I feel is on a not-so-ridiculous contract ($12 a year for 3 more years). They managed to get 2 first round draft picks (and not just any draft picks, but New York draft picks with pretty much no protection. If NY miss out on the free agent bonanza, those draft picks could well be early lottery picks).
AND they managed to still save money in the process. Even as a fan of a Conference rival, I'd just love to see Yao Ming get healthy and for them to seriously challange the top dogs. Brooks, Martin, Ariza, Scola and Yao is a fairly formidable lineup.
On a related topic, should we already start ordering some Western Conference All-Star jerseys with Martin on the back?
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