Thunder send Petro to Denver for Atkins +1 Rd Pk

Turns out Sports Illustrated Writer Ian Thomsen wasn't far off when he wrote about 5 trades you'll see before the deadline. If you don't remember, you can check out THIS POST. In the article he suggested the Thunder send the Nuggets veteran forward Joe Smith for Chucky Atkins and a 1st round pick, and Today the Thunder completed a very similar deal. Denver will be sending Chucky Atkins and a first round pick for Johan Petro and a second round pick. At this moment, I have mixed feelings on the deal, on one hand, its nice to get that extra 1st round pick to use to help build the team through trades, or the draft. On the other, what the hell are we going to do with Chucky Atkins? I mean seriously?

Of course the addition of Nenad Krstic, nearly every other big man on the Thunder roster has become expendable. It's a little surprising that the one big man I haven't heard many trade rumors on got moved. Losing Petro doesn't seem like a big deal, but he's a 7 footer with a lot of potential. I don't know, you always worry about getting rid of these bigfoot types, and them all the sudden figuring things out and becoming dominant on the inside. I don't think that will happen here, but it always crosses the mind. Atkins was presumably brought in because of the success of Watson and Westbrook on the floor simultaneously, and Chucky will give them another option.

To be honest, with all the other expiring contracts on the team, I'd really expect this to be the first trade of many before we hit the deadline. Guys like Wilcox, Smith, and Watson will all probably get moved, at least if you believe all the speculation. I guess it just figures that as soon as the team finally starts playing well together, they get broken up, but hey we're in January with only 5 wins, so its probably not a bad thing to shake things up.