I really don't know what this trade accomplishes for either team.

Raef LaFrentz is a terrific player, but he's not a center -- he's a big forward. He's a good big forward, but that's what he is, and I'm not sure how he fits into Dallas' player rotation -- they already have Dirk Nowitzki. How much more does LaFrentz bring to the table than Juwan Howard did?

LaFrentz won't be able to defend Shaq. And while Shaq will have to go outside to defend LaFrentz, Howard took Shaq out to the edges and ran the floor against Shaq just fine. The last two times I've seen the Mavs play the Lakers, I thought Howard played very well.

Nick Van Exel isn't going to be happy as a backup point guard -- Steve Nash gets most of the minutes. Maybe Van Exel is good insurance if Nash is injured, but that's not enough to justify this trade.

Avery Johnson has been playing well in Denver, but neither he nor Tariq Abdul-Wahid seem to fit into this new picture in Dallas. I don't know where either of them will play.

Both Van Exel and Johnson are capable starting guards, but the Mavericks already have one! Maybe Abdul-Whahid in back of Michael Finley gives the Mavs another option, but I'd rather have Eduardo Najera.

Basically, this comes down to Howard for LaFrentz, and I don't know if there is a big difference between the two. LaFrentz has more range than Howard -- he is a better 3-point shooter, and a better shot-blocker than Howard. But Howard was one of the few post-up players Dallas had.

The Mavs will miss Tim Hardaway. Donnell Harvey wasn't playing anyway, and the $1 million doesn't matter to Maverick's owner Mark Cuban. The Mavs are going to be a high-percentage winning team, so the first-round pick in this year's draft won't matter much, either.

The one thing this accomplishes for the Nuggets is that they finally got rid of the troublesome Van Exel, but they lost Johnson -- a great team player -- in the process. The Nuggets pick up Howard, but he plays basically the same position as Antonio McDyess who hasn't been playing, but will play soon.

Sometimes it's good to make a trade at the deadline to shake up a slumping team, but the Mavs have been playing well, so that couldn't have been their motivation this time around.

The Mavs would have loved to get Karl Malone, and that trade would have made a lot of sense. But I don't really like this trade for either team -- neither gained anything significant. Of the two, Dallas probably picked up the better personnel; now they just have to find a place for them to play.

Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, ESPN's NBA analyst, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.