FanHouse MichaelRuffin

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

"I'm pissed off; I want to win," Marion said after the Raptors fell to 2-8 since the trade. "I don't want to go out there and lose every night. I didn't come here for this. I didn't expect this. We have a talented team, man. We have to pull together and help each other. We have to decide now if we're going to fold it up or look in the mirror, make a stride, and get on with it." -- Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer

(Warning: I'm a Kings fan, and I'm a little unstable right now.) The belle of this season's trade deadline ball has been, in the absence of Amare Stoudemire, Mr. John Salmons. Salmons is a fine little player, a 29-year-old jack-of-some-trades who can score and pass and defend.

Brad Miller ... well, you know about him. A highly skilled center who can't jump over a pancake (not that he'd want to) and carries a $12 million salary next season. Everyone wanted in on Salmons, while Miller's destinations seemed few. Idea! Why not package them together to make sure you lose the dud? Sacramento did just that today in swapping the pair for Chicago's Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni.