The trade deadline ended at 3 PM ET Thursday, but that doesn’t mean the news of just-completed trades is going to stop coming in. Here are a few deadline deals that broke just before or after the league cutoff.

Blazers acquire Gerald Wallace. (Ken Berger, CBSSports.com)
The Bobcats get Dante Cunningham, Joel Przybilla and two first round picks. Since Przybilla’s deal is expiring, this is a salary dump for Charlotte. They’ll come away with Cunningham and two first rounders out of the deal. Wallace can play either forward spot, so he could play alongside LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum if the Blazers want to play small ball.

Nate Robinson and Kendrick Perkins to OKC for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. (Adrian Wojnarowski, Y! Sports)
Interesting trade for the Thunder, who are going to have trouble shooting the ball if they start Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha. They’ll have plenty of size down low and appear to be gearing up for a potential matchup with the Lakers and/or Spurs. Perkins is widely regarded as one of the best defensive centers in the league and Ibaka is no slouch either. The C’s must feel like they have plenty of size with Shaq and Glen Davis, who usually finishes games for Doc Rivers. Green will back up Paul Pierce and/or Kevin Garnett. Krstic is a serviceable center as well, and there are rumors that Boston will be looking to add Troy Murphy if he clears waivers.

Aaron Brooks to Phoenix for Goran Dragic. (Marc Stein, ESPN)
Brooks was thought to be a cornerstone of Houston’s youth movement, but one temper tantrum and one suspension later and he’s on his way to the Suns for Dragic, who was thought to be the point guard of the future in Phoenix once Steve Nash moved on. But Dragic’s three-point shot has disappeared (28% this year after 39% last season) and his numbers are down as a result. If he gets back to form, the 24-year-old could be a steal — and the Rockets got a first round pick to boot.

Rockets send Shane Battier to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet. (Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports)
The Rockets get another first round pick as part of this deal. Thabeet isn’t ready for prime time, but maybe the Rockets still see potential in him. Battier’s contract is expiring and he obviously wasn’t in Houston’s long-term plans so they got what they could for him. The first round pick should be useful, even if Thabeet is not.

In another trade that “almost-was,” O.J. Mayo was going to be moved to the Pacers for Josh McRoberts and a first round pick, but the NBA didn’t receive the fax in time, so the trade was nullified. Insert Michael Heisley joke here.

How would the 2008 NBA Draft go if owners and GMs knew then what they know now?

Here’s my take…

#1 Chicago: Derrick Rose
The Bulls don’t want a mulligan. They are perfectly happy with their franchise point guard.

#2 Miami: Brook Lopez
Michael Beasley isn’t a bust, no matter what anyone says. But if the Heat had it all to do over again, they’d go with Lopez here, who posted 13.0 points and 8.1 rebounds in about 31 minutes of playing time.

#3 Minnesota: O.J. Mayo
I don’t think the T-Wolves would do anything differently. They’d still draft Mayo and trade with Memphis for Love. Why not?

#4 Seattle/OKC: Russell Westbrook
Likewise, the Thunder have to be happy with what they have in Westbrook, who averaged 20.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists in February.

#5 Memphis: Kevin Love
Like I said, this deal would still go down here. I don’t think anyone left on the board would convince the Grizzlies to take someone other than Love, whom they would once again trade for Mayo.

#6 New York: Michael Beasley
Danilo Gallinari didn’t do much in his rookie season to dissuade Donnie Walsh from drafting the Kansas State product here. He’d be a nice fit in Mike D’Antoni’s up tempo attack.

#7 LA Clippers: Eric Gordon
16.1 points on 46% shooting from a rookie off guard? Can’t ask for much more than that.

#8 Milwaukee: D.J. Augustin
Joe Alexander may eventually turn out to be a player, but if John Hammond had this pick again, I think he’d go in another direction. Jason Thompson and Anthony Randolph are possibilities, but how about Augustin, who posted 11.8 points and 3.5 assists playing for the notoriously hard-to-please Larry Brown?

#9 Charlotte: Mario Chalmers
With Augustin off the board, the Bobcats might have gone with Chalmers, who averaged 10.0 points and 4.9 assists en route to an appearance on the All-Rookie Second Team.

#10 New Jersey: Courtney Lee
With Lopez long gone and Vince Carter’s career on the downswing, the Nets might have gone with Lee, an athletic do-it-all off guard who shot better than 40% from long range, and averaged almost 11 points per game in February and March. Javale McGee, Jason Thompson and Anthony Randolph would be possibilities as well.

Honorable mention: Jason Thompson, George Hill, Anthony Randolph, JaVale McGee, Marreesse Speights, Kosta Koufos, Anthony Morrow, Nicolas Batum, Roy Hibbert and Luc Mbah a Moute

- 20 SECOND TIMEOUT provides a nice breakdown of the All-NBA voting.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS informs us that USC head coach allegedly gave $1,000 to one of O.J. Mayo’s handlers after Mayo signed his letter of intent as a high school senior.

- DEADSPIN has a few quotes from former NFL-er Tony Banks, who says he used to date Dirk Nowitzki’s girlfriend/fiancee.

- THE LOVE OF SPORTS lists 10 Guys You Love to Hate, and it’s a good one.

Scout.com’s David Thorpe (via ESPN) lists the top NBA rookies from the 2008-09 season.

All-Rookie First Team

Derrick Rose, Bulls: Among rookies, he is second in scoring and minutes per game and first in assists. He was handed a ton of responsibility immediately and handled it all with grace and professionalism. And though he went No. 1 overall, he probably exceeded the expectations of most people.

Russell Westbrook, Thunder: Only rookie to rank in the top 10 among rookies in scoring, rebounding and assists. He is also second in steals and first in free throws made and attempted. He willed his team to some terrific wins and showed incredible promise.

O.J. Mayo, Grizzlies: First among rookies in scoring and minutes, and is already considered one of the league’s top jump-shooters. He also competes hard on defense and appears to be very professional.

Kevin Love, Timberwolves: Already one of the league’s top rebounders, he is competing with Speights for the rookie PER crown. He is also a smart interior defender and should be a strong starter for years to come.

Brook Lopez, Nets: He’s been nothing short of a revelation. One of the top free-throw shooting centers in basketball, he is an excellent scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker. He has been probably the most productive rookie of the class, and he can become a cornerstone center, which is one of the most valuable positions.

It’s hard to argue with any of these choices. I was a little surprised to see that neither Rudy Fernandez or Michael Beasly made the first team, but both players made Thorpe’s second team. Thorpe also hands out awards for All-Defense and All-Offense, as well as a few other miscellaneous awards.

4. Tim Duncan
His finishes in the Trade Value column since 2001: No. 2, No. 3, No. 1, No. 2, No. 1, No. 3, No. 3, No. 4. Uncanny. Speaking of consistency, check out his 12 regular seasons (including this one) split into groups of three seasons …

Duncan (first three years): 22-12-3, 52 percent FG, missed eight games.

Duncan (next three years): 23-13-4, 51 percent FG, missed eight games.

Duncan (next three years): 21-12-3, 50 percent FG, missed 31 games.

Duncan (last three years): 20-11-3, 52 percent FG, missed five games.

Then, remember that he also played 155 playoff games and averaged a 23-13-4 with 50 percent shooting, plus first-class defense and leadership. And sprinkle in the little fact that no Duncan team has ever lost even 30 games in a regular season. Translation: Greatest power forward ever, most consistent superstar ever and you cannot sleep on him in May and June.

I do take issue with a few of his rankings…

Yao at #7? Too injury prone.
KG ahead of Deron Williams? Garnett is too old.
Nash at #23 (ahead of Rondo, Devin Harris, Mayo, Kevin Martin)? Seems awfully high for a 35 year-old.

There are a few others, but I’m not going to nitpick.

Yahoo! Sports has an update on the Amare Stoudemire trade talks.

The proposed multiplayer trade is fluid, but the framework would include the Suns receiving a package that includes Miami forward Shawn Marion and Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay. Miami would send rookie Michael Beasley to the Grizzlies.

“Miami knows that they can’t get this done directly with Phoenix,” one league executive said. “The big thing is that they know the Suns like Gay.”

Miami apparently has to get the Grizzlies involved because the Suns aren’t all that high on Beasley, but they do like Gay. So Phoenix would get Marion (cap relief) and Gay (young star), while Stoudemire would go to the Heat and Beasley to the Grizzlies.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that the Grizzlies rejected a Suns’ proposal of Gay, forward Hakim Warrick and point guard Mike Conley for Stoudemire.

I would hope so.

Before the 2008 NBA draft, the Grizzlies tried hard to trade up to get Miami’s No. 2 pick to draft Beasley. The teams never came to terms, and Memphis ultimately worked the draft-day O.J. Mayo-Kevin Love trade. Gay hasn’t meshed well with Mayo, who took over as the Grizzlies’ top scorer.

Gay’s production is down from last season (PER: 17.34 to 14.85). I’m not sure that Beasley is going to mesh any better with Mayo. Both players are shoot-first types and there may not be enough basketballs to go around. Gay’s numbers are pretty much the same across the board, but his three-point percentage is down, which is dragging down his overall FG%. He’s still getting the same number of shots, so I’m not really clear on how Mayo is adversely affecting his game.

The Portland Trail Blazers also have discussed a trade for Stoudemire, and sources said they have offered the expiring contract of Raef LaFrentz and rookie point guard Jerryd Bayless. The Chicago Bulls also continue to talk with the Suns about Stoudemire.

The note about the Blazers is interesting, because a previous story had LaMarcus Aldridge involved in the trade. Without Aldridge, that trade isn’t worth it for the Suns. (And if I’m the Blazers, I don’t think I’d be giving up Aldridge to get Stoudemire.)

In previous columns, I ranked the top 10 free agents of 2010 and identified several players with expiring contracts that might be moved before the Feb. 19 trade deadline. Now it’s time to talk about cap space.

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about how teams are “clearing cap space” so that they can sign a big-name free agent in the summer of 2010 (or in some cases, 2009). But what exactly does this mean?

The NBA has a “soft cap” which is currently set at $58.7 million. Teams that are over the cap can’t sign a free agent from another team for more than the mid-level exception, which usually starts at around $5 million per season. Teams that are under the cap can offer free agents whatever cap space they have up to the level of a max contract, which starts at about $14 million per season under current conditions.

HoopsHype has all the salary data for each team, but I thought it would be useful to compile it all into one table so we can easily see who will have money to spend over the next two summers.

First, my assumptions:

- Given the current state of the economy, the salary cap is likely to stay at about $59 million over the next two seasons, so I used the current cap ($58.7 million) to calculate each team’s cap space.

- Certain players have already indicated that they’re planning to “opt out” of the final year of their contracts so that they can enter free agency. For those that have not announced, I used my best judgment to determine whether or not a player is likely to opt out. For example, LeBron James is very likely to opt out of his contract in the summer of 2010, but Michael Redd, who stands to make more than $18 million that same season, is likely to play out the final year of his deal because he’s not going to get anything close to that kind of money on the open market.

- I’ll also list the major (and some minor) decisions that each franchise will have to make over the next two seasons. These are typically decisions about whether or not to re-sign a player whose contract is up (or is entering restricted free agency). For example, if the Knicks decide to sign David Lee to a long-term deal, it’s going to have an impact on the team’s available cap space.

Without further ado, here’s the table, sorted by total projected cap space in the summer of 2010.

The data is interesting. If teams didn’t spend another dime until the summer of 2010, there would be seven teams capable of signing one player to a max-type contract and 11 teams capable of signing two players to max deals. This isn’t realistic, however, as most teams are going to re-sign their current players when they enter restricted or unrestricted free agency, and that’s going to take a bite out of their cap space. Plus, there are a number of stars – Carlos Boozer, Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson – and several starter-quality players that will sign free agent deals this summer. That’s going to gobble up cap space as well.

Of the four teams that have significant cap flexibility this summer – Detroit, Memphis, Atlanta and Oklahoma City – only two, the Pistons and the Hawks, have major decisions to make this summer. The Hawks have to decide whether or not the 30 year-old Mike Bibby is worth a significant long-term deal. If they do sign him to a contract averaging, let’s say, $10 million per season, it is going to reduce their cap space for the summer of 2010 by that amount. They can always re-sign Joe Johnson (because he is “their” free agent), but they may not have enough space to sign another top tier player. That space would be reduced further if they elect to sign Marvin Williams to a long-term deal.

The Pistons have to make a decision about Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace. Both players are getting on in age, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pistons allow both contracts to expire and use the new cap space this summer or next, building around Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince.

The Grizzlies have a ton of projected cap space over the next two years, but their challenge is not the money – it’s attracting a top-tier free agent to a small city and a bad team. No one really thinks that Memphis has a shot at any of the top five free agents of 2010 – LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson – though there’s a slim chance that Amare or Bosh might want to play with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay. Small market teams like Memphis that are struggling to win are going to have to overpay for second-tier free agents. The Thunder, Timberwolves, Raptors and Kings are four other teams that will have significant cap space over the next two seasons but are unlikely to attract a top-tier free agent.

These numbers will obviously change over the next two seasons as teams make trades and sign free agents (and draft picks). However, I can’t remember a time when this many teams had this much cap space. Under normal circumstances, it would lead to a frenzy of spending in the short term, but with the current state of the economy, teams may be quite a bit more cautious as they open those checkbooks.