Stephen A. Smith was burning the phone lines, Web sites were updating their blogs every few minutes, there was talk of a Shaq-LeBron pairing, and we were left with Rafer Alston to the Magic.

As far as blockbuster trades go, Alston to the Magic, Kyle Lowry to the Rockets and a first-round pick to the Grizzlies ranks somewhere between Wilt Chamberlain to the 76ers and the time I swapped Jorge Cantu for Mark DeRosa in fantasy baseball.

By now, you already know the NBA's trade deadline -- a day that usually justifies the minute-by-minute tracking -- came and went without a whimper or barely a mention of Raef LaFrentz's expiring contract.

Let's look at the biggest names involved in the deals that did go down the last two days.

GOING UP

-- Brad Miller, C, Bulls: He hadn't played for the Kings since Jan. 30 because of a hip injury, then was involved in the biggest deal this week, a Wednesday swap that involved Miller and John Salmons going to the Bulls and Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni heading to the Kings. Miller is a center who doesn't block shots (0.6 per game), but he does average 3.4 assists and is an effective free-throw shooter (80.1 percent) and decent rebounder (8.0). He is expected to start for Chicago soon, and is worth playing in fantasy.

GOING NOWHERE

-- Andres Nocioni, SF, and Drew Gooden, PF, Kings: Nocioni has little fantasy value (10.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, 41.2 percent from the field), and there's no telling how much Gooden will play for a team that is rebuilding from scratch and already has young big men Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson. If Gooden, who is averaging 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, is Sacramento's regular center, he is worth considering.

-- Rafer Alston, PG, Magic: He leaves one playoff team, the Rockets, for another, and brings his awful shooting percentage with him. Alston's 3-point (80), steal (1.2) and assist (5.4) totals are assets, but his field-goal percentage (37.0) is a category-killer. If you think that will change as the Magic's 2009 replacement for Jameer Nelson, keep in mind that Alston's career FGP is 38.5. He's worth starting only in 10- or 12-team leagues in which you're desperate for guard help.

GOING DOWN

-- John Salmons, SF, Bulls: At 18.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game, along with 77 treys and very good percentages (47.2 FG and 82.3 FT), he's been a draft-day steal. But will he continue to average 37 minutes after getting traded to a Bulls team that already has Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich in the backcourt and Luol Deng at small forward? The best guess here is Salmons will come off the bench in Chicago, which hurts his fantasy value. I would still start him, but this trade might hurt your team in the long run.

DON'T BOTHER

Kyle Lowry, Rashad McCants, Chris Wilcox and any other player involved in Thursday's sprint to the disappointing finish.

THE OBLIGATORY LARRY HUGHES REFERENCE

The player who many of us (me included) once thought would be Robin to LeBron James' Batman is now a Knick after getting traded for, gulp, Tim Thomas, Jerome James and Anthony Roberson. Since Hughes will be paid almost $13.7 million next season to shoot 40 percent from the field and not enjoy his role, that seems fitting.

He's not a fantasy factor. But this was my only chance this season to remind myself and many others how wrong we were.