Sixers' Trade Deadline Wrap-Up: No Deals, Speights Dangled, "deep" Talks for Shane Battier, Kapono Buyout

The 2011 NBA trade deadline is (un)officially over, and the Sixers made no trades, but Jason Kapono will likely to be bought out in the next few days.

However; according to ESPN's Marc Stein, the Sixers were in "deep" negotiations to send Marreese Speights and Jason Kapono to the Houston Rockets for Shane Battier. Battier's a solid player and would've helped the Sixers down the stretch, but ultimately taken minutes away from Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner, which is completely unacceptable. Not to mention parting with the probably-unreachable potential of Marreese Speights.

Battier – like Kapono – is an expiring contract and no spring chicken at 32.5 years old. This trade would've been the epitome of short-sighted, dealing a prospect for a 25-game rental of a mediocre small forward, who could've stunted the development of Evan Turner and/or Thaddeus Young. 

For once I'm pleased the Sixers stood pat. The only trade to catch my eye from a Sixers perspective was Jeff Green, a first-rounder and Nenad Kristic for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson. Seems like Perkins – who fills the Sixers biggest need perfectly – could've been had for Thaddeus Young. The two concerns would've been Perkins' knees and upcoming free agency. Shocking as it is, I'd rather have Thad.

Now that the deadline is behind us, we can all focus on the 25 games remaining, catching the Knicks, and stunning the now-depleted Celtics in the first round. Buckle up, cause it's going to be a fun next couple months.