Blazers add depth at point guard at trade deadline

It was a quiet deadline day in the NBA on Thursday, as no blockbuster trades were made. But the Portland Trail Blazers upgraded at point guard, a move they desperately needed.

The Blazers traded to Oklahoma City the draft rights of Giorgio Printezis and a $2.2 million trade exception, which they obtained last off-season in trading Raymond Felton to the New York Knicks. In return, Portland received OKC guard Eric Maynor, a four-year veteran chosen 20th overall in the 2009 draft. He hasn’t played a lot this year, still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season.

On the positive side, Maynor gives Portland a solid backup point guard they have needed and improves a bench that has been inconsistent all year. And, after all the discussion about Blazer forward J.J. Hickson, he ended up staying in Portland, which was a good idea.

Other notable trades around the league include rookie Thomas Robinson being sent to the Houston Rockets. Robinson was the fifth overall pick in last year’s draft. Also going to Houston was Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. In exchange, the Sacramento Kings received Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas and $1 million cash.

The Milwaukee Bucks got sharpshooter J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon and Ish Smith; in return, the Orlando Magic got Tobias Harris, Beno Udrih and Doron Lamb. Redick is in the final year of his contract; I could see the Blazers looking at Redick in the off-season.

Not a lot of other big trades occurred, although Rudy Gay was traded to the Toronto Raptors and James Harden to the Houston Rockets earlier in the season.

I’m expecting the off-season to bring more deals, especially with Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith not being traded this week.

He is in the final year of his contract, as are many NBA players, so it shapes up to be an interesting summer.