Houston receives: Two 2nd Round picks, and the rights to Kostas Papanikolau and Marko Todorovic
This trade works for both teams, it gives the Rockets the cap space to pursue Dwight Howard while Portland gets a player who was picked 5th overall in last years draft. Thomas Robinson was drafted into an awful situation last year in Sacramento, before being traded to a Houston team that had already established a rotation and didn't play. This is a fresh start for Robinson, who is a talented player and he should get plenty of playing time alongside LaMarcus Aldridge in the Portland frontcourt. Robinson isn't perfect and needs to stop taking jumpers, but the kind of rebounding, toughness, and explosion he can supply is a not easily found. Robinson's high energy demeanor will fit nicely next to Aldridge's more laid back game. For Houston, they were log-jammed at power forward anyways and Robinson was always viewed as more of a trade asset than a part of the team. The picks and draft rights aren't the point of this trade, which was made purely to clear cap space for a run at Howard and other big names.
Toronto receives: Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Quentin Richardson, 2016 First Round pick, 2014 and 2017 second round picks
This is sort of a baffling move by the Knicks, not because I think Andrea Bargnani is a terrible player, and it actually saves them money, but because it's the worst possible fit for New York. Bargnani is a versatile offensive player who at his peak can shoot the ball all the way out to the 3-point line, or put the ball on the deck. However that player has been missing for the last season and a half as his confidence has dwindled and injuries have slowed him down. Even if Bargnani regains his stroke and confidence and becomes the 20 point scorer he once was, his defense and rebounding is so bad it won't matter on this team. At 7-foot, 250+ pounds, Bargnani has average 30.3 minutes a game so far in his career, yet just 4.8 rebounds, which is not good. Add to that his matador defense and it's not a good fit on a team that expects to play a couple of accomplished toreadors in their own right, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. If the Knicks play those three together, it might be the worst defensive front court in the last decade at least. The Knicks also sent away draft picks, something they're already in short supply of. For Toronto, this was a no brainer to get ride of Bargnani, who has become loathed by fans. They save money, get draft picks, and aquire Novak, who is a shooter only, but the best Toronto has seen since Jason Kapono. Toronto lacks a true knockdown shooter, so I could see him getting some run at both forward spots, which may help make up for the lack of shooting when Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan share the floor together.
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