Trade Grades: Nuggets get Nelson

— -- Let's take a look at how the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets did in their trade today. Here's a breakdown of the deal:

Celtics get: Point guard Nate Robinson

Nuggets get: Point guard Jameer Nelson

Boston Celtics: B+

Sadly, this isn't really a move to bring back a former Celtic (Robinson spent parts of two seasons in Boston). Instead, Danny Ainge grabbed an expiring contract in return for Nelson, who has a $2.85 million player option for next season. According to Marc Spears, the Celtics plan to buy out Robinson, who's in the final year of his deal and would have the chance to sign with a contender as a backup point guard. That should save Boston some money on top of the difference between the two players' salaries (about $300,000 the rest of the season).

Ideally, Boston would have gotten some kind of pick for Nelson, who was part of the package for Rajon Rondo. But that might have required the Celtics to take back salary beyond this season, and Ainge is unlikely to go wrong by taking the sure cap relief.

Denver Nuggets: D

At first glance, it's hard to see why the Nuggets -- presumably sellers after trading center Timofey Mozgov last week -- would be picking up a veteran point guard and taking on 2015-16 salary. My educated guess is that head coach Brian Shaw drove this deal. Denver is relatively light on veteran leadership, and Nelson provides a steadier hand behind starter Ty Lawson than Robinson and rookie Erick Green. The position had been a source of some frustration for Shaw.

Is that worth $2.85 million next season to a team that probably will again be in the lottery? I would say no. The Nuggets evidently disagree.

Hopefully, this move will bring Nelson some stability. After spending his first 10 seasons with the Orlando Magic, Nelson is joining his third team in a month's span. By the way, Nelson technically is returning to the team that originally drafted him. Denver sent Nelson's rights to the Magic on draft night.