O.J. Mayo: Trade To Indiana dead. Just like prior to last year's trade deadline, it looked Monday like O.J. May was headed from Memphis to Indiana, with some package involving Josh McRoberts and Brandon Rush heading back to Memphis. Perhaps it isn't surprising the trade died -- Mayo, who average 15.5 points per 36 minutes, is clearly the best player in the deal. Still, it would have been interesting to see how Mayo could have performed in Indiana, where he likely would have earned a starting shooting guard role, playing in a lineup with Darren Collison, Danny Granger, David West and Roy Hibbert. It also wouldn't be terribly surprising if the Pacers attempt to revive these talks before the trading deadline.



Chauncey Billups: Claimed by the Clippers. With the Chris Paul trade on life support -- and likely just not happening before the start of the season -- the Clippers have moved quickly to fix their point guard situation, claiming Chauncey Billups off amnesty waivers. The bid on Billups was close to a mere $2 million. It remains to be seen if Billups is willing to play for the Clippers -- he was adamant that if the "wrong team" claimed him, he simply wouldn't play -- but he seems to be a great fit. Billups is a superior player to Mo Williams and should be able to perform similarly to his 16.8 points and 5.5 assists from last season, even at age 35. It's worth noting that Billups can't be part of a Chris Paul (or other) trade -- amnesty pickups cannot be traded until the next offseason.



Kwame Brown: Agrees to one-year, $7 million deal with Golden State. As much as the name Kwame Brown elicits laughs directed in Michael Jordan's direction, he turned into something of a decent player last season with Charlotte. Brown averaged nine points and seven minutes per game in just 26 minutes per game last season with the Bobcats. Right now, he'll be behind Andris Biedrins on the Warriors' depth chart, but if Biedrins doesn't improve from his five points, five rebounds type performance from last season, Brown could work his way into a starting role. And as rich as $7 million sounds for Kwame Brown, keep in mind the Warriors likely need this deal to get over the salary floor -- all the money they tried to spend on Tyson Chandler and Deandre Jordan was thwarted by the Knicks and Clippers repsectively.