Now that we?ve had a little time to watch free agency unfold, along with the usual accompaniment of trades, let?s look at some of the key moves and how they impact the teams involved.

Among the biggest names in terms of signings were Baron Davis and Elton Brand, but key complementary players like Corey Maggette and James Posey factor into the league situation also. As far as trades go, they?ve tended to be more about cap maneuvering than talent swaps, as the Marcus Camby and Keyon Dooling deals demonstrate. Ultimately, there?s been a huge shift within the conferences, with some teams bolstering their rosters, others tinkering with the parts they have, and still others doing absolutely nothing. Each transaction carries a story with it, though, so which are looking like the likeliest for happy endings?

Elton Brand to Philadelphia

The only thing more eye-popping than the $82 million USD the Sixers gave Brand over five years is their new starting lineup. Featuring Brand along with upstart Thaddeus Young at forward, Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala (pending a seemingly probable re-signing) at guard, and Samuel Dalembert at center, this is suddenly one of the best starting fives in the league. Miller is a great passer and able defender; Iguodala is an all-around talent who can adapt his game to what the team needs on any given night; Young is an athletic, energetic player who hits the glass; Brand is a legitimate first option in the post; and Dalembert is a shot-blocker at a near-elite level.

The two weaknesses Philadelphia will face this coming season, unless they make another significant move first, are outside shooting and depth. Ironically, the acquisition of Brand can receive partial blame for both problems, as the team had to trade Kyle Korver in order to acquire the necessary cap space to sign Brand, and Brand?s huge salary means that the Sixers have very little free agent money left. Those are small sacrifices, though; with Miller at the helm and Brand in the trenches, the team should look to play a deliberate, half-court style, enabling the players to rest a little more on offence. The main problem will be outside shooting, but there are plenty of shooters out there, and Ed Stefanski has been managing the team fine so far.

Even above Eastern Conference considerations, whether of the Sixers (a brilliant move) or their Atlantic rivals (grumbling all around), this is a tremendous deal for Brand. The Clippers might?ve been a good team with him, Davis and Chris Kaman, but they might not have. Al Thornton is a good young talent, but a Cuttino Mobley/Tim Thomas combination on the wings really isn?t that promising. In Philadelphia, Brand can capitalize on last year?s success in two key ways. He can fit in well with a rising team that at least appears to be lacking egos, and he can look like a savior if the team advances deep into the playoffs. The East is a lot tougher than it once was ? the Celtics, Pistons, Cavaliers, Magic, and Raptors will ensure that ? but if Brand is healthy, and the team doesn?t get too gassed during the regular season, Philadelphia could give any team a run. That?s what team-oriented, defensive squads built around a 20/10 player do.

Baron Davis to the Clippers

Had Brand gone to the Warriors, this move would have been hilarious. Had Brand stayed a Clipper, it might?ve been tantalizing. As is, it doesn?t seem all that convincing. The Clippers won a paltry 23 games last season, among the dregs of the league, and seemingly swapped Brand and Maggette for Davis, Eric Gordon, and a player I?ll be mentioning in detail later. While Brand was injured, and Davis is an upgrade over Maggette, is this enough to make the Clippers into contenders? Davis is 29 already and has a history of back problems, which makes giving him a long-term deal quite risky. Furthermore, while Davis is a good defender, the Clippers have a pronounced lack of other perimeter defenders. With prominent wing scorers like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Martin in the division, the Clippers could be facing a world of pain that Davis can?t alleviate.

The two big questions surrounding this contract are why the Clippers would offer so much (approximately $70 million over five years) and why the Warriors wouldn?t offer some sort of equivalent. Davis was a perfect fit in Don Nelson?s running style and had brought a once-irrelevant team back to respectability. By joining a Clippers' team not exactly renowned for glory, he could be leaving a better team for a worse one. The Warriors, of course, could end up not being very good at all this coming season; who plays point guard? Monta Ellis is a gifted player but is best as an off-guard beside a big point guard (like, for example, Davis). Without a floor general to run the Warriors? offence and be the front line of defense, it?s impossible to predict if they can reach last season?s 48-win mark, let alone win more.

On the Clippers? side, this is a gamble. If the team makes the playoffs, this was worth it. If not, it wasn?t. There?s really no other plausible scenario. They have numerous optimistic reasons: falling Western powers like the Suns and Mavericks haven?t made any really serious moves and could be surpassed; the only clear-cut contender in the Pacific is the Lakers, meaning that any other team can seize a lower playoff seed; and Al Thornton could give that physical presence on the wing that will be otherwise unattainable. That said, there are reasons to be pessimistic too. Davis could go down with an injury; ace defender and unrestricted free agent Quinton Ross could bolt, leaving the Clippers? wing defense porous at best; and young teams like Portland or even Minnesota could act as spoilers, picking off potentially playoff-bound teams late in the season. This signing can?t be properly evaluated yet except to say that the Clippers, Warriors, and Davis all took a massive risk on it.

Corey Maggette to Golden State

This move seemed like the Warriors getting frantic after losing Davis, and therefore signing the best player they could find. The contract, $50 million over five years, is by all counts excessive, and looks more like an attempt by Golden State to seal the deal in a hurry more than anything else. Working on a rushed timetable and with an overabundance of money isn?t what I?d call a recipe for success, though, and this signing is prime example.

Maggette was available for a reason. Although he?s a twenty-point scorer who generates free-throw attempts, he plays a position (small forward) at which there are better free agents (Luol Deng, Josh Smith). He?s also not the greatest defender, a criticism that he?s never seriously addressed in his nine NBA seasons. While he could look like a better defender with Andris Biedrins manning the paint behind him, that never really materialized when Maggette played with Brand, who?s far better than Biedrins at this point. None of this is to say that Maggette isn?t a good player worthy of starter?s minutes and a decent-sized contract, just not what he got. About $10 million less would?ve looked much better.

More pertinently, Golden State was just about the last place I thought Maggette would go. The team is suddenly directionless, overflowing with wing talent (Ellis, Maggette, Stephen Jackson) and with only one legitimate post player and no point guard. Anthony Randolph and Brandan Wright are both laden with potential but also are far too skinny to make an impact right away. (By comparison, each weighs at least ten pounds less than the much shorter Maggette.) Young players like Ellis and Biedrins signal a bright future, but players like Jackson, Al Harrington, and Maggette indicate that the team should be winning right away. That?s a team that needs to decide its direction, and soon, so the players will know their roles. Maggette?s role as a player who dominates the ball seems even less sensible on a team so reliant on having multiple ball-handlers on the court. Maggette was worth chasing, and Golden State needed to chase someone, but this doesn?t seem like all that great a marriage.

James Posey to New Orleans

Although not as noticed as the above three signings, this one might turn out to be just as pivotal. Posey is a championship-hardened veteran who sets the tone on defense, rebounds well, and can shoot the three. That?s exactly the kind of player a championship-aspiring team like the Hornets needs, and the mid-level isn?t that much to pay. It?s the same contract they gave Morris Peterson a summer ago, and Posey is the better player. The Hornets can start both in order to open up room for Chris Paul to penetrate, or they can start Julian Wright in favor of Peterson, making the lineup more athletic and inside-focused. Peja Stojakovic, who?s been much-maligned yet is still a valuable contributor to the team, could also start alongside Posey.

Posey?s key strengths are twofold and work well with the Hornets? existing core players. He can set screens for Paul on offense and then pop out to the three-point line, giving Paul the option to either look for the foul or for an open Posey. On defense, he can help compensate for Paul?s tendency to gamble by cheating off his man if the opposing team lacks a wing star. He can also help David West and Tyson Chandler on the glass, where the former is inconsistent and the latter often has to battle against far more muscular men. While Posey?s by no means squat, he has a slightly sturdier frame and boxes out well, so he could carve out low-post area, something like Clifford Robinson did for Ben Wallace once upon a time.

While I love this move for New Orleans, I can?t stand it for the Celtics. Despite luxury tax concerns, there?s no reason not keep a player like Posey on a team that just won 66 games and a championship. He?ll be difficult to replace, especially if Ray Allen keeps playing like he did in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Tony Allen, whom the Celtics just re-signed, will have to quickly learn not only how to be a top defender but also how to defend small forwards despite being only 6?4?. Having 6?8? Posey around helped with that. As for whether Posey will benefit, that can only be answered by whether New Orleans or Boston has a better season this coming year. He?s a proven ring-hunter who could?ve received that contract just about anywhere.

Marcus Camby to the Clippers

This was a trade, but it didn?t really feel like one. It felt like the Nuggets voluntarily forsaking the playoffs, and the Clippers fitting an interesting piece into their system in the wake of losing Brand. To deal Camby, who just recently became only the second player in NBA history to lead the league in blocked shots three consecutive times, for nothing but a second-rounder, is lunacy. To deal that second-rounder for him must feel euphoric.

The Clippers, certainly cognizant of their questionable perimeter defense, can feel a little safer now. As long as Chris Kaman can play average post defense, Camby will have the freedom to roam, swatting whatever evades the limp noodles that Mobley and Thomas seem to call contesting shots. That could be the difference between a Clipper playoff berth and yet another year in the lottery. Camby also makes a paltry $8 million per year for his services, a welcome contrast to the $14 million average annual salary Davis is slated to make.

The Nuggets were clearly worried about cap implications. These are self-inflicted, of course (see: Martin, Kenyon? and Nene. I can?t format his name that way.), and should be a reminder to all teams handing out ridiculous contracts. Had the Nene contract been $60 million plus Camby, or had it cost three first-rounders and Camby to acquire Martin, would the Nuggets have been so eager? Opportunity cost plays a huge factor in NBA management, and it just bit the Nuggets in the neck. Had they wanted to trade Camby in order to get younger, I might?ve understood, and I certainly would have advocated the proposed trade with New Jersey for Sean Williams in that situation. That the Nuggets allegedly passed on that proposition because the accompanying expiring contracts would have represented too much of a cap burden should single-handedly explain just how crippled this Nuggets team is. Look for the Clippers to leapfrog the Nuggets in the standings this season and for Camby to be a huge reason, if not the main reason why.

Keyon Dooling to New Jersey

This really isn?t a very important trade, but I have to mention it as a counterpoint to the above debacle. Both teams fared very well here. New Jersey picked up a serviceable guard at the salary it wanted him to have (approximately $3 million per year), but using their trade exception allowed them to acquire him without using the mid-level exception. Orlando, knowing Dooling would be a Net anyway, managed to receive a useful return for him in the form of that trade exception, which will last a year. Orlando can use it in a similar trade for a different player, or can let it expire, and it will be as though nothing had happened at all. It?s a low-pressure situation for both teams, with New Jersey not having to explain to the fans that Dooling was their big free agent haul, and Orlando not having to use the exception if General Manager Otis Smith doesn?t want to. At the same time, New Jersey gets its man, and Orlando gets its return. Both teams met a goal, and that?s really the benchmark of what constitutes a good trade.

The blockbusters will wait

As teams recover from their salary-cap binges and purges, and those teams? rivals take stock of all this signing and dumping, there will certainly be some big talent-for-talent trades. This past February showcased three of them (which I mentioned in my column ?The Western Conference Arms Race?), and this next deadline could see another few. This July?s been about the sheer movement of assets, with none of the above six transactions involving more than one player. Where this will leave the teams involved, as well as the rest of the league, won?t be resolved until well into this coming season.