I usually roll my eyes at the various crackpot trade scenarios people come up with on this and other blogs, but I've been driven by an obsession this trade season to make something happen for Hinrich, without having to lose Ray in the exchange. Without going into why, I think Hinrich just fits this team perfectly - much better than Eddie House - and would give us a real boost in a backup PG and occasional backup SG role. And he's very available, if Chicago can get something worth his weight in expiring contracts.

With that in mind I tried for a long time to make a 2 team trade work on the Trade Machine and it just wasn't happening. Then I added Charlotte to the mix, knowing that they really want an athletic young big, and that Chicago is done with TT and afraid he will exercise his player option this summer, restricting their cap space in the free agent melee.

So here's what I came up with: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ylfhfjd

The part that makes me sad is losing TA, because we drafted him and he's actually reliable this year and I love his aggressive defense, but from what I hear Graham is a quite strong defensive guy himself and has got some potential... especially in our system.

In short, Boston gets: much more complete backup PG and better defined roles in the second unit (Daniels is the default 2, Graham the default 3) without losing anyone critical to the team... also get younger. Ajinca is a throw-in to make it work financially.

Chicago gets: all the expiring deals they want, plus Chicago native TA and backup PG Felton who can actually help the team this year. Also eliminate the somewhat disgruntled TT and avoid the threat of him exercising his player option this summer. Chicago will have money for 2 max free agents in the summer.

Charlotte gets: the athletic young big they've been rumored to be chasing, plus House who can give them some scoring boost off the bench. Charlotte also comes away with less guaranteed contract expenditures next year.

What y'all think?