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When the smoke finally cleared after a flurry of trades at the trade deadline, it appears as though the Charlotte Bobcats have moved two starting-caliber players for cap relief, a project and two first round picks.

Forward Gerald Wallace and center Nazr Mohammed are on their way out of Charlotte. The Bobcats have acquired center Joel Przybilla, forward Dante Cunningham, center Sean Marks and two future first round picks (from Portland in Wallace swap) along with forwards D.J. White and Morris Peterson (from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Mohammed).

From a positive perspective, the move allows the Bobcats to move Stephen Jackson to his natural position of small forward where he is the most comfortable on both ends of the court. This also vaults another Gerald into the starting lineup, second-year player Gerald Henderson, who has been excellent off the bench since being released from former coach Larry Brown’s doghouse earlier this season.

From a reality perspective, is this all the Bobcats could get for a player the caliber of Wallace?

Salary cap savings don’t propel below-average teams into the playoffs.

Coach Paul Silas has stressed all week leading up to the deadline Charlotte was not satisfied with the caliber of offers they were receiving for their available players, and even this morning said he believed the Bobcats would stand pat. However, the Bobcats would end up settling for what amounts to nothing in terms of on-court production as team management, led by Michael Jordan and general manager Rod Higgins, pulled the trigger on two deadline deals.

Wallace was second on the Bobcats in scoring (15.6 points per game), first in rebounding at 8.2 boards per contest and the team’s best defender. The combined scoring averages of the five players acquired doesn’t match the singular contribution of Wallace, much less the leadership and defensive intensity the career-long Bobcat brought to the table on a night in, night out basis.

{AUTHOR_BOX}This trade represents a wave of the white flag from the Bobcats, currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference at 25-32, one-and-a-half games out of the final playoff spot. They’ve relinquished the over $21 million owed over the next two seasons to Wallace for two first rounders and Przybilla’s nearly $7.5 million expiring contract. It’s unlikely Przybilla will even play for Charlotte; the 31-year old center has had trouble returning from injury and, according to sources, it’s most likely that he will either be bought out by the Bobcats or retire.

In terms of Cunningham, the 23-year-old has plenty of room to grow as a player but won’t help the Bobcats in terms of right now. Cunningham’s contract is also off the books after this season.

Marks was a last minute throw-in to the trade, and his contract also expires at season’s end.

The smaller trade of Mohammed to Oklahoma City for White and Peterson, which is still be reviewed by the league, is largely inconsequential. White has good size (6’9, 251 lbs) and has some talent that could help the Bobcats in the future, but I wouldn’t expect much this season. Peterson is towards the end of his career and has only played in four games this year; but his $6.64 million contract goes off the books at the end of this season.

So, in essence, Charlotte has traded it’s starting forward and backup center for two first-round picks, D.J. White and four expiring contracts. Even with the final few Eastern Conference playoff spots occupied by sub-.500 teams, it’s going to be difficult for the Bobcats to overcome the loss of their second best player — while receiving nearly nothing in return — and make the playoffs with 25 games left in the regular season.

(For the Portland Trail Blazers perspective, check out Jason Fleming’s piece from earlier this afternoon.)