Rumors, moves, injuries and newsmakers...

The Cavs shuffle the deck; Raps shore up the center position; the Hornets grab two guards; Dixon goes to Motown; Yao so close to a double-double; Marion's on fire; and more...

CAVS GET BUSY  No one can ever say Cleveland Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry sits on his laurels. Just one season ago, his team surprised Detroit and made it to the NBA finals on the back of Lebron James. Ferry must have seen what others suspected and acted. The Cavs are no longer a team without any depth.

In making a series of trades on Thursday, Cleveland acquired players that they can imediately use in their title quest. With power forward Anderson Varejao and guard Daniel Gibson both suffering injury problems this year (not to mention Varejao's hold out), the Cavs acquired guard Delonte West--who was playing quality ball in Seattle--without having the open looks he will now receive when Lebron is double-teamed. Power forward Joe Smith was coveted by Toronto but Cleveland won out. He could be a more-than-adequate fill-in for the injured Varejao. Veteran Wally Szczerbiak, acquired from Seattle, is a career 15-points-per-game player and is averaging over 13 this season coming off the bench.

However, the biggest name acquired by the Cavs before the deadline belongs to big Ben Wallace, who was supposedly going to New York but has found his way to Cleveland instead. Forget the fact that his stats dipped slightly in the Windy City; remember the championships he won in Detroit. His experience will be huge during the stretch run, and he will be the kind of menacing force that will have teams fearing taking the ball to the hole.

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PRIMOZ TO TORONTO 
Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo traded guard Juan Dixon to the Detroit Pistons for center Primoz Brezec on Thursday afternoon.

Brezec's services were acquired to give the Raps a little more on the boards, an area that they have suffered severely in for many seasons. Toronto is hoping Brezec can return to the form he showed from 2004-06. During those two seasons, Brezec played good ball for the Charlotte Bobcats as their everyday big man, averaging 6.5 rebounds/game and dropping nearly 13 points per contest.

The center position needed to be reinforced for the playoff drive, as Andrea Bargnani continues to experience growing pains with on-again/off-again nights in his second NBA season. A good example being Wednesday night, when he hit just one of eight field goals and registered donuts from the land beyond in 19 minutes. This came after his previous game of shooting nearly 50 per cent and scoring 14 points, while also registering a block, a steal and an assist.

The current backup center in Toronto is Rasho Nesterovic, who is averaging about 16 minutes--a number that may now drop in the coming games with the addition of Brezec. Rasho is a reliable player, but very slow for the Raps' up-tempo style. In acquiring Brezec, the Raptors have added another international player--giving them one of the most diverse team make-ups in the NBA. Brezec could be in action on Friday as the Raps meet up with the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

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HEAT 
Shawn Marion got his third double-double in his fifth game with the Heat, racking up 18 points and 10 boards in a loss to the Houston Rockets Thursday. Registering big numbers is nothing new to 'The Matrix', but being on a team with just nine wins is not familiar territory for the former member of the high-flying Phoenix Suns. Marion was dreadful from the line, however, as he hit just four of 11 free throws. Dwyane Wade also had a double-double with 33 points and 11 assists.

HORNETS 
The New Orleans Hornets buzzed in late on deadline day to obtain two guards from the Houston Rockets. On their way to the 'Big Easy' are Bonzi Wells and Mike James. James is suited for the backup role, as he is too one-dimensional to be a starter. He could be explosive off the bench when Chris Paul needs a breather. Jannero Pargo may still be the No. 2 guy at point guard behind Paul, however. The acquisition of Wells is the more interesting addition of the two. Wells and Morris Peterson can be a heck of a one-two punch if they split time.

PISTONS 
Under-used shooting guard Juan Dixon joined the Pistons on deadline day. Where former Raptor Dixon fits is another question, as shooting guard was already a position of strength in Detroit. They have two upstart youngsters in Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey playing behind stalwart Richard Hamilton. To compound matters, throw another shooting guard--Flip Murray--into the mix. All of this could add up to an interesting situation for Dixon, who was not happy with his playing time in Toronto. He was averaging roughly 12 minutes per game with the Raps, well off his career average of 20.2 minutes per game.

ROCKETS 
The Rockets did not have any of their new additions to the club in the lineup on Thursday. They did not need them, as they stormed out to a 41-26 first-quarter lead on Wednesday versus the Miami Heat. Bobby Jackson did not play after being acquired from the New Orleans Hornets earlier in the day. Houston won the game 112-100, as Tracy McGrady had a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards, Yao Ming was not far off with 21 points and just missing the double-double by a rebound. Sergei Lishchuk and Adam Haluska were also acquired before the deadline.

SUPERSONICS 
Seattle has shed itself of nearly all its star power over the last two seasons, so it is of little surprise that they were active again on Thursday, less than 24 hours after saying goodbye to Kurt Thomas. The Sonics got rid of guard/forward Wally Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West to Cleveland for Donyell Marshall, Adrian Griffin and Ira Newble. This is a deal influenced by the Sonics' possible franchise sale. Marshall, Griffin and Newble provide little in the way of impact for the Sonics, besides allowing Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour to see more minutes. Ridnour, who has been battling the injury bug all season, now has a chance to demonstrate his potential to drop primetime dimes.

SPURS 
What has gotten into Manu Ginobili? Whatever it is, head coach Greg Popovich isn't complaining. For the second time in three games, Manu eclipsed the 40-point mark on Thursday. This time, he netted 44 including the winning bucket in the Spurs' nail-biting 100-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ginobili had a whopping seven three-pointers on nine attempts to boot. Tim Duncan had a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while doling out a team-high seven assists. He also added four blocks and three steals. Tony Parker returned to action after an extended absence because of an ankle/heel injury. He played 18 minutes off the bench, going 3-7 and hitting both free-throw attempts for eight points.

TIMBERWOLVES 
Center Al Jefferson poured in 28 points but it was not enough to prevent a loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. The Timberwolves now have only one win this month to go with four losses. Sebastian Telfair missed a 25-footer with time dwindling down in the fourth quarter, which would have put the T-wolves on top. The miss spoiled a fairly solid shooting display by Telfair, who made seven of 14 field-goal attempts in the contest. Point guard Randy Foye played a team-high 41 minutes and had 13 points to go along with seven assists. Rashad McCants played well off the bench with 15 points, including three treys in as many attempts.