Trade grades: Warriors move Bogut to Mavs to make space for Durant

The Deal

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Mavericks get: Center Andrew Bogut

Dallas Mavericks: B

You can certainly make the case that Bogut was better than any center remaining Monday morning. The best of the group was probably incumbent Mavericks starter Zaza Pachulia, and it's understandable that Dallas would want to shake things up.

After a terrific first half of the season, Pachulia tailed off down the stretch, and he's not the kind of rim protector the Mavericks would ideally like next to Dirk Nowitzki. Bogut is that player, of course. As he demonstrated in the first quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Bogut can still be an elite rim protector on his best nights, and at worst he's still above average in that role.

Offensively, Bogut fills more or less the same role as Pachulia. Dallas would probably prefer to have more of a roll man at center than Bogut and Pachulia, who are high-post players. However, both can create good looks with their passing.

I'd have been curious to see the Mavericks take a chance on a younger rim protector like Bogut's backup Festus Ezeli or fellow unrestricted free agents Dewayne Dedmon and Willie Reed. They might have come cheaper than Bogut and could have been part of Dallas' long-term future.

Bogut is more or less a rental, which is the path the Mavericks have taken over and over again since winning the 2011 championship. But as usual, the price was right.

Golden State Warriors: A

The Warriors needed to trade Bogut to clear room to sign Kevin Durant, one of the NBA's top five players, as a free agent.  That's another way to "win" a trade.

As long as they didn't have to give up anything to move his salary, it's a great deal for them.

The Warriors turned around and filled the gap at center by adding Pachulia on a one-year, $2.9 million deal, as evaluated here.