By Andy Charles

Okay, so I was going to write all about the surprise moves that the Raptors made on trade deadline day, but that article would end…about here, so let’s have a look instead at what the other teams in the Atlantic managed to achieve.

Of the main interest to Toronto was what the Celtics would do, but in the end their only move proved to be pretty uninspiring as well as they shipped out Eddie House to the Knicks for Nate Robinson.

Robinson is serviceable enough (I guess) and Boston went on to beat the Lakers later in the day as well, but whether the move actually improves them I am not so sure.

Apparently Nate is not exactly the fun-loving character some believe him to be, and he had already gotten into Mike D’Antoni’s doghouse this season, playing sparingly but showing in games when he was given the chance that he could score in bunches.

But where is the playing time in Boston? Doc Rivers seems tied to Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen as his backcourt pairing, and although Robinson is a better player than House, he’s not the greatest defender in the world to be bringing off the bench and he has already admitted he wants to start.

The move basically leaves the Celtics in just about the same position they were in NBA Betting wise before the All-Star break, which is to say a team that is only clinging on to first place thanks to Toronto’s inability to put a run together.

Their veteran lineup really needs just one injury over the next couple of weeks and NBA Predictions suggest there is every chance a bad run could follow because their bench has proved to be relatively ineffective all season.

Philadelphia and New Jersey were deathly quiet, as befits teams that will either struggle or find it 100% impossible to make the playoffs, so the biggest moves were reserved for New York, where all the moves made were aimed at next season alone.

As well as Robinson, gone are Jared Jeffries, Jordan Hill, Larry Hughes, while Tracy McGrady arrives with his expiring contract that leaves the Knicks in place to make some big moves this offseason, plus they added a point guard who could really make an impact down the road in Sergio Rodriguez.

But the big news is that the Knicks now stand on $32m in salary cap room which could leave them with the space to make a run at two of the biggest three free agents who are due to come into the market – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and (gulp) Chris Bosh!

So now the biggest hope for those clubs looking to make a run at the Atlantic Division in 2011 is that no-one wants to play at Madison Square Garden. Whatever happens either the Knicks are going to be much stronger or sadly the Raptors will be lacking.

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