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The 3 PM ET trade deadline in the NBA has come and gone, and while there were plenty of big names rumored to be on the move, few teams actually had the guts to pull the trigger. There were plenty of deals made, however, including one that might have one Eastern Conference team feeling like it's back in the title conversation. A wrap-up of today's events after the jump.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- The Suns suffered a bad loss Saturday night at the hands of the Chicago Bulls, giving up 122 points to a team that had scored over 100 just five times in their last 17 games. No disrespect to the Bulls, who have won three straight and have started to play much better; it's just that the expectations on the Suns make losses to sub-.500 teams on their home floor pretty tough to swallow.

This one in particular seemed to take its toll more than most, as there was a closed door meeting afterwards, followed by some candid comments from Shaquille O'Neal about the team's lack of defense.

We're not even at the NBA's All-Star break yet, but Bulls' head coach Vinnie Del Negro is already trying to say that the race for the Rookie of the Year is over. In Tuesday's Chicago Sun Times, Del Negro pretended to be an election night pundit, calling the race in favor of his own rookie point guard Derrick Rose, while making it seem like we shouldn't even bother discussing the other contenders.

Forgive us coach, if we take your recommendation with a larger than average grain of salt. Especially when there's a rookie named O.J. Mayo who's currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. NY Post: Alas, Stephon Marbury will not be allowed by the Knicks to practice with kids from his old High School. The NBA: Where inactive means inactive.

2. The Detroit News: Joe Dumars consoles Rip Hamilton after dealing Chauncey Billups out of town.

3. Marca.com: If you can read Spanish, then you can read about Sergio Rodriguez's agent requesting a trade for him. (via HoopsHype)

4. SLAM: Bulls' new coach Vinnie Del Negro, already clashing with a couple of his players.

5. OrlandoSentinel.com: Brian Cook: bad basketball player, worse teammate.

6. Daily News: Baron Davis, following in Damon Jones' footsteps.