Well aware of his team's shortcomings, Orlando general manager Otis Smith made a pre-holiday weekend into his personal version of the final moments of 'The Godfather'. Like Michael Corleone at the christening for Connie's son, being asked if he renounces Satan while he eliminates Moe Greene and the other dons, Smith has turned Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first round pick and $3 million in cash into Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark.

While the overall risk is relatively minimal, the trades come across, for better or worse, as desperate.

These trades are more about reunions and salvaging a Magic team that had fallen behind the Celtics, Heat and possibly even the Bulls in the Eastern Conference pecking order than it is about truly being Corleonian. The Magic have been trending downwards and showed almost no contender mettle.

Arenas, Richardson and Smith reunite from their days long ago with Golden State. The Arenas and Richardson backcourt pairing was once one of the most promising in the NBA, but was preempted when the former signed with the Wizards due to the second round pick loophole of the former collective bargaining agreement.

Turkoglu, meanwhile, returns to the Magic after a disappointing 100-game journey with the Raptors and Suns. Turkoglu parlayed his success with Orlando, where he played five seasons, into a gruesome contract from the Raptors and it is a small piece of karmic retribution that it falls back to the original scene of the crime so to speak.

The Magic were less than eager to re-sign Turkoglu after the 2009 season and instead made a draft day trade for Carter, using Courtney Lee and cap relief as the main trade piece for the Nets. 

Summing up all of the trades, Orlando has essentially turned Courtney Lee, Gortat, Lewis and Pietrus for Arenas, Richardson, Brandon Bass and a re-signed Turkoglu.

Though this trade is about right now and is not a rebuild in any meaningful way, Richardson is four years younger than Carter and Arenas is three younger than Lewis. The trade will look much better for Orlando should they sign Richardson to an extension, which seems likely considering what they can pay in comparison to the eventual, CBA-impacted open market.

The Magic once had delusions of Chris Paul or Carmelo Anthony, but this isn't a terrible consolation prize considering the assets they are working from.

Arenas is a complete unknown in terms of what he will bring to the Magic. Prior to his suspension and Washington's transition into turning over the franchise to John Wall, Arenas looked like the pre-injury Arenas. He has been one of the NBA's best pure scorers over the past decade, but we will need to determine the following two questions:

1. How much does he physically have left?

2. How will he adapt to Stan Van Gundy's system in an offense where Dwight Howard is at center instead of Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood?

The usage of Arenas will be interesting, because the Magic could go small and start him at shooting guard next to Jameer Nelson, while letting Richardson start at small forward. More intriguingly, they could bring him off the bench and let him play against rotation players while letting him be the focal point of the offense when Howard is in the game.

Regardless of what happens during the beginning and middle chunks, it is impossible not to imagine the three players acquired on Saturday (A.R.T.) finishing games with Nelson and Howard bookending them.

A trade of Nelson would be logical next step since there is an obvious roster imbalance, but I still see that as an unlikely event.

The Magic are ranked 14th in points scored per 100 possessions, down from fourth in the 09-10 season. Their offense has been completely uninspired and the A.R.T. trio gives the Magic substantially more firepower.

Orlando wasn't getting past anybody as previously constructed and match up much better against the Eastern Conference giants now, but the absence of Gortat will be most felt should they advance to the Finals and play the Lakers. They absolutely need to improve their frontcourt depth by consolidating their glut of perimeter players.

We will need to see how these three high usage players fit in and while nobody is frightened of the Magic, they are at least relevant again.

Grade for Magic: B+

Washington's ability to trade Arenas for Lewis is essentially an open and shut case. Lewis has one of the worst contracts in the NBA, but it expires one season sooner and he can coexist with Wall.

The Wizards have yet to create a definitive identity on how they will build around Wall, but this is a productive first move to clear Arenas without taking back anything too messy in the process.

Grade for Wizards: A-

Richardson was a key reason why the Suns were so successful during the 2010 Playoffs. He was the element that was missing during those prior mid-decade incarnations of the Suns and fit perfectly with Steve Nash.

For the current season, the Suns might actually upgrade if Carter can somehow become a veteran reclamation project that the franchise has become famous for since his skill-set is similar to Richardon's (at least in theory).

Gortat will team with Robin Lopez to give Phoenix a big advantage at center at all times.

The real win for Phoenix is the salary cap relief, as Turkoglu's contract was something no middling team should have any part with.

The future of Nash over the next few weeks leading to the February deadline will be intriguing to follow.

Grade for Suns: B