With the NBA trade deadline long past, and with the dust settling on official roster updates, it’s time to see how those trades will affect your experience in NBA 2K12. We are using the post trade deadline roster from 2K for the purposes of this article. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the teams that improved, those who got worse, and those who made you say WHAT?!

Two trades happened involving draft picks so let’s quickly look at those. Leandro Barbosa goes from Toronto to Indiana. Barbosa gives the Pacers another quick perimeter player who can shoot, defend, and handle the ball. It’s impossible not to like this move.

The 76ers added SF Sam Young from Memphis in a trade for the rights to 2005 draft pick Ricky Sanchez, who will likely never play in the NBA. Young adds another body on the wing that can shoot a little bit and play decent defense. Again, there’s nothing to lose here for the Sixers, so it’s hard to be down on the move.

Portland Trail Blazers

No team was changed more by the trade deadline than the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland blew their team up in one day, on a scale we haven’t seen in a while in the NBA. Portland moved Gerald Wallace to New Jersey, Marcus Camby to Houston, fired head coach Nate McMillan, and waived oft-injured Greg Oden. Portland took back Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Mehmet Okur and Shawne Williams.

In NBA 2K12 the Wallace and Camby trades are really the only ones that are going to affect you unless you’ve been suspending disbelief and using Greg Oden. Portland users will have to rely even more heavily on LaMarcus Aldridge and Jamal Crawford for scoring now, while the duo of Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews become your best perimeter defenders.

Losing the low post defense and shot blocking of Camby (71 OVR) and the all-around game of Wallace (81 OVR) leaves Portland with backup Joel Przybilla as the best post defender and Batum as the only versatile wing man on the roster. Flynn is actually overrated at a 70 OVR in 2K12 with a “B+” outside scoring rating and the same ball handling rating as Raymond Felton (also a 70 OVR), with an “A-minus.“ So that gives Portland a steady backup to Felton. Okur can stretch the floor from the center position with his shooting ability. Williams is another purely offensive weapon; he can’t do much besides shoot, so pick your spots to play him. Thabeet at center is rated a 51 OVR and other than average post defense he gives you absolutely nothing.

New Jersey Nets

Nets users will really enjoy using Wallace in 2K12 with his perimeter defense, his scoring ability, rebounding ability and ability to throw down nasty dunks in traffic. Wallace immediately becomes the second highest rated player on New Jersey behind Deron Williams. With Williams, Wallace and MarShon Brooks, Nets users now have three dynamic scorers. And while it’s not Dwight Howard, it’s still a nice upgrade for this season.

Houston Rockets

Rockets users also saw Jordan Hill go to the Lakers in exchange for the opportunity to buyout veteran Derek Fisher. In losing Hill, the Rockets lost an “A-“ rated rebounder, and a rotation player. What they added however, was Camby’s “A” rated post defense and “A” rated rebounding, as well as his well-documented shot blocking ability. The loss of Flynn and Thabeet are minor ones for Houston. The Rockets also have Goran Dragic at PG, which will let them non miss a beat.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks made a bold move a couple of days before the deadline, acquiring Monta Ellis, Epke Udoh and the carcass of Kwame Brown. Clearly trading disillusioned Steven Jackson was a priority and Golden State finally got the legitimate center the franchise has been seeking for years in Andrew Bogut. For people who run with Milwaukee in 2K12, this has to be a pretty exciting change. In Ellis (83 OVR), you now have a high volume scorer to pair with Brandon Jennings in the backcourt. Buckets should be much easier to come by now on the perimeter. Udoh provides a good young rebounder who is still learning how to become an effective offensive threat. Bigger guards could obviously be a defensive match up problem for Ellis, but Ellis creates those same mismatches on offense for the Bucks.

Golden State Warriors

Golden State users won’t see Jackson suit up for their team in 2K12 as he was flipped for Richard Jefferson from San Antonio. While Bogut is injured in reality, Warriors users who want to get a preview of what he is all about will be happy with his skill set. Post defense, rebounding, shot blocking and the ability to score on the block are all qualities that Golden State have searched for in a big man since the end of the lockout, and now they have it. Richard Jefferson adds another wing player and a guy who can shoot the corner three and play a little perimeter defense (“B” rating).

San Antonio Spurs

Spurs users will notice an immediate upgrade at SF in 2K12, going from Jefferson to Jackson. Jackson’s game is much more versatile with no glaring deficiencies. He adds pure scoring ability, good size at 6-8, and the ability to create for other players. This is a really nice upgrade for people who run with the Spurs.

Los Angeles Clippers

The biggest “What the …” moment came from the three team trade involving the Nuggets, Clippers and Wizards. The Clippers gave up end of the bench Brian Cook and a draft pick and acquired Nick Young. Young’s skill set fits the year’s Clippers team perfectly with his shooting ability. He also gives LA great size at SG (6-7). Clippers users went from depth concerns after Chauncey Billups’ injury to now having really solid depth there. It’s hard to argue that the addition of young is a major positive. Any attitude problems he may have in reality won’t affect your digital Clippers (hopefully).

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets are the team that most observers looked at with eye brows raised on March 15. Denver essentially traded Nene, who was just given a big “franchise player” contract in the off-season for underachieving and at times, bone-headed Javale McGee. Ronny Turiaf was also included, but has since been waived and signed by The Heatles.

The focus is on McGee. While this trade might or might not have made sense for many reasons in the real NBA, let’s look at what it does to Denver’s digital squad. Nene provided a great overall game despite his 77 overall rating. He can score, rebound and block shots. Javale McGee has become a coveted player in NBA 2K12 because of his rebounding and ridiculous ability to block shots due to his very high vertical and good block rating. At a 70 overall and with an I.Q. rating of “B-“ (I’ll let that sink in….), McGee gives the Nuggets all of the benefits of a 23-year-old center without the real life lack of basketball awareness in 2K12.

Washington Wizards

Wizards’ users, if they exist, now have Nene at center and he becomes the second highest rated player behind John Wall. His effective all-around game will certainly help with interior scoring. The addition of Cook gives you a PF who can spot up and hit long shots if you choose to use him. That’s about the extent of his usefulness in NBA 2K12. The loss of Young really hurts the digital Wizards.

Los Angeles Lakers

Finally we come to the Lakers, who got a respectable NBA point guard at the trade deadline by picking up Ramon Sessions. In doing so, they were able to make the aforementioned trade of Fisher to Houston. The Lakers also added Christian Eyenga from Cleveland while shedding Jason Kapono and Luke Walton. Sessions is a clear upgrade over Fisher in 2K12 in every area except outside shooting. Sessions is honestly underrated at a 72 overall, but even so, his skill set makes him the fourth best rated player on the Lakers. The addition of Jordan Hill gives the Lakers its highest rated backup big man (66 OVR tied with Troy Murphy) and adds a much needed big body to a thin frontcourt. Hill is a better rebounder and interior scorer than either Murphy or Josh McRoberts in 2K12.

Cleveland users … I’m sorry.

Those are the trades that happened at the deadline. It remains to be seen how they will shape the rest of the season. Buyouts and signings are still on the way, so NBA rosters aren’t done changing. The Nuggets recently signed Wilson Chandler to a long term deal after he went to China during the lockout, for example.

For every trade that did happen, there were two that didn’t. Dwight Howard stayed put for another year, Jamal Crawford didn’t go to Minnesota, Michael Beasley wasn’t traded to the Lakers and Portland couldn’t trade Raymond Felton to anybody.

What deals do you wish your team would have made to improve?