After all the frantic phone calls, e-mailed messages probing for interest, serious face-to-face conversations, and hundreds of rumors that floated about regarding dozens of players, only four trades were consummated as the deadline passed Thursday.

When the smoke had cleared, 21 players had changed locations; two first-round draft picks and two seconds were obtained, and a million dollars -- randomly tossed in by Mark Cuban, of course -- were added to sweeten deals.

All that talk -- about the Knicks trading Latrell Sprewell or Marcus Camby or both; George Karl dealing everybody at Milwaukee except Senator Herb Kohl; the Clippers pushing Lamar Odom out of Los Angeles; the Sixers seeking another big man to replace Matt Geiger and Nazr Mohammed; Rasheed Wallace going to Washington to join Michael Jordan -- amounted to nothing.

Just like in most other years before the trade deadline, when all is said and done, a lot more is said than is ever done.

Here's my assessment of what went down:

Chicago-Indiana
To the Bulls: Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norm Richardson and a conditional second-round pick
To the Pacers: Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, Ron Artest and Kevin Ollie
Both teams helped themselves, but Indiana gained the most. The Pacers gave up two very good players, Rose and Best, who were not happy with their roles on the team. Rose resented the fact that coach Isiah Thomas turned the ball over to rookie Jamaal Tinsley to run the team's offense, and Best felt he should have been the starter rather than Tinsley. So the Pacers lost two players who weren't thrilled to be with their team and gained four quality players who are ecstatic to be in Indiana.

The Pacers' additions:

Miller, a no-nonsense, 6-foot-11 center/big forward who will score enough to keep the defense honest, bang the boards, and won't back down from anybody. His presence allows the Pacers to move the more slender Jermaine O'Neal to big forward -- a more natural position for him.

Artest, tough-defending, hard-driving swingman, to fill Rose's spot. Although he lacks Jalen's feel for the game, Artest will upgrade considerably the team's defense and put enough points on the board as well.

Mercer, currently on the injured list, a consistent shooter from the edges and, along with Reggie Miller, gives the Pacers a dangerous pair of marksmen at the two-guard position.

Ollie, a reliable back-up point.

It's all good for Indiana. All coach Thomas must do is find a good player rotation for his suddenly deep squad.

The Bulls, in dire need of quality talent, pick up two who are now the team's best players. Rose will play free and easy in coach Bill Cartwright's revised system. I don't expect to see much of the old triangle setup with Rose on the floor. He will create his own offense and will share the ball to open teammates like he used to do for the Pacers under coach Larry Bird.

Best, a free agent at the end of this season, will play his normal game as a backcourt starter. He knows how to play with Rose and will defend hard, penetrate to the hoop and knock down perimeter shots. At the end of the season, Travis can decide whether he wants to stay in Chicago or more on.

The deal is a shot in the arm for the Bulls. They're not a contender for a playoff spot yet, but they've become a better team, and the developing young players like Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Trenton Hassell, Marcus Fizer and Jamal Crawford -- who will be back before this season ends -- will have a chance to grow in a more optimistic environment.

Boston-Phoenix
To the Celtics: Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk
To the Suns: Joe Johnson, Randy Brown, Milt Palacio and a 2002 first-round draft pick
The Celtics needed more fire power to supplement the scoring of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, and they got it with the acquisition of Rogers and Delk. Both are double-digit scorers, have three-point range and are accustomed to coming off the bench -- although coach Jim O'Brien may stick Delk into the starting lineup at two-guard and move Pierce to small forward.

The Celts' principal loss is Johnson, in whom their high confidence level had dimmed because of JJ's nonchalant attitude. He may be a good one yet. But for the present, the deal is a good one for Boston as it prepares for the stretch run toward the playoffs.

The other Boston players in the deal -- Brown (injured for all but one game this season) and Palacio (limited playing time behind Kenny Anderson and Erick Strickland) -- won‘t be missed. The Celts also gave up this year's first-round draft pick, which, because of budget concerns, they wouldn't have signed anyway. The deal enables Boston to free up some cap space to sign free agents, like Rogers and Strickland.

Phoenix gave up two quality players, but since it appears the Suns are out of the playoff race anyway, they are looking more to the future. They got a promising young player, Johnson. While neither Brown nor Palacio will see much if any service, the Suns got that first-round draft pick, which has some conditions surrounding it. Another factor influencing the deal for the Suns was that they felt they wouldn't be able to re-sign free agent Rogers at the end of the season.

Dallas-Denver
To the Mavericks: Raef LaFrentz, Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson and Tariq Abdul-Wahad
To the Nuggets: Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway and a 2002 first-round draft pick
This is a strange deal from both sides. The Mavs weren't able to pry Karl Malone loose from Utah, so they focused on LaFrentz and got him -- plus a lot more.

They will use LaFrentz, more of a big forward, at center and play him with Dirk Nowitzki. That's not bad. At Denver, LaFrentz scored just under 15 points a game (mostly from the perimeter) and is among the league's top shot blockers, but he gets only about seven boards a game -- about the same as Howard, who has a better post-up game.

Between the two, I give LaFrentz a slight edge over Howard, but I don't give the Mavs a better chance in the playoffs against the big-man teams in the West -- Lakers, T'Wolves and Spurs -- just because they now have LaFrentz.

I have more questions for Don Nelson. How will Van Exel feel about backing up Steve Nash? What will Nellie do with Avery Johnson, yet another point guard? And where does Abdul-Wahad fit on the already deep Dallas roster? Nelson had a team with strong chemistry before this trade. He may have a brought together a mix of players that smolders then disintegrates.

What about Denver? The Nuggets were able to rid themselves of two discontented players. That's good. They took on $18 million dollars in salary with Howard, who plays the same game from the same spot on the floor as Antonio McDyess. They added Hardaway, who was enjoying his back-up role at Dallas, but at 35 years of age and with a history of gimpy knees, is the only point guard the Nuggets have. A third player in the deal, Harvey had played in 18 games and averaged two points for the Mavs. All in all, it doesn't sound too good, does it?

The Nuggets did pick up Dallas' first-round draft pick this year, and a million dollars. Hopefully, that will do them some good down the line.

Minnesota-Golden State
To the T'Wolves: Marc Jackson
To the Warriors: Dean Garrett and a 2007 second-round pick
The Warriors were finally able to work out a deal for Jackson. I'm surprised they got so little back for him.

Jackson had some control over the team to which he would accept a trade. That may have been a factor. But except for ridding the team of a malcontent, the Warriors didn't get much more. Garrett was averaging about five minutes of playing time and one point per game at Minnesota.

The T'Wolves may have picked up a significant player. Jackson, a big-bodied (6-10, 270 pounds) forward/center, averaged 13 points and over seven rebounds last season and was an all-rookie selection. He wanted to play in Houston and became unhappy when the Warriors matched the Rockets' offer of $24 million over six years. He played in only 17 games for the Warriors this season.

Although he's not a true center, Jackson can shoot accurately from the fringes, rebound and block shots. Coach Flip Saunders will make good use of Jackson's skills. They might be just enough to get his team past the first round of the playoffs.