Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 4:30pm

BLAZERS GET GERALD WALLACE

The Portland Trail Blazers acquired combo forward Gerald Wallace from the Charlotte Bobcats for power forward Dante Cunningham, center Joel Przybilla, forward-center Sean Marks, two future first-round draft picks and cash.

What does it give the Portland Trail Blazers
Portland makes an impressive and even surprising move here, landing star player for two role players and two picks. Wallace isn't having a great season by his standards, but he's one of the NBA's best two-way performers. His addition gives the team a bona fide star scorer and defender, and takes the pressure off injury-prone young leader Brandon Roy. Expect this move to push LaMarcus Aldridge to center, with Wallace playing power forward and both Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum at small forward. The Blazers are somewhat mortgaging some of their future here, but they have Wallace for next season as well and have to be seen as more of a contender in the now-weaker West.

What does it give the Charlotte Hornets
This is in many ways a baffling trade by the Bobcats. Wallace has been their best player for awhile now, and he's still quite young (28). Clearly the Bobs didn't think they could re-sign him for the long term, so they get three expiring contracts (in Przybilla, Cunningham, and Marks) which will help them in the money department, and two future first-rounders--which, to their credit, is more than Cleveland got for LeBron James or Toronto got for Chris Bosh. All that said, it still has to sting for Charlotte fans. Cunningham is one to watch for the rest of the season (and should be a rotation guy for Charlotte) and it's likely young shooting guard Gerald Henderson will see a bigger role going forward after some strong recent play (with Stephen Jackson probably moving to small forward). Przybilla and Marks don't appear likely to be significant factors in Charlotte.

Fantasy impact