The NBA Trade Deadline has passed, and now, trade grades are handed out. Even with the marginal trades that actually took place, there are still winners and losers.

The Sacramento Kings have long been in the loser column, but they have a young, dynamic GM in Pete D'Alessandro to turn things around. He has already executed a big trade (perhaps the biggest in-season trade) by acquiring Rudy Gay from the Toronto Raptors. On the deadline he traded Marcus Thornton, a key contributor, for Jason Terry and Reggie Evans.

This was a reverse of what he did in the Gay trade. He traded a better, younger player for two older players, one of which might not even join the team. From the Sacramento Bee:

"Kings guard Jason Terry will not join the team this season, Kings coach Michael Malone said during his weekly appearance on the Grant Napear Show.

Terry, 36, instead will rehab in Dallas in preparation for next season. Terry had left knee surgery in the offseason and hasn't felt right all season, Malone said.

The Kings indicated they did not plan to buyout the remainder of Terry's contract, which has one more season on it worth $5.45 million."

What was the purpose of this trade? It's best to ask the GM before it is graded in the negative. The Kings wanted to contend, but unfortunately, they will still not qualify in the competitive West. They are tied for last place in the West with the Lakers and Utah Jazz. They need to move forward, as Alessandro explained to Cowbell Kingdom:

On the issue of Jason Terry not joining the team: "Jason's a pro.  He came right out and he sat down and we talked.  His knee, frankly, had been bothering him and from our perspective, this is a time for us to get Ben (McLemore), Ray (McCallum), the young guys on the floor, as we discussed when we made the trade.  As long as he is working on his end to do his rehab and get himself at 100-percent strength, and he will be because he is a pro, and we'll monitor that.  I will keep in touch with him on a daily basis and honestly, he's a pleasure to deal with."

The Kings GM wanted to give Thornton's minutes to the younger players whom they are considering for bigger roles in the future. Does he see the Kings becoming a contender? Well, he wants to evaluate what he has: "I really want to see our players playing like they are playing for a championship.  I really do.  And I think our coaching staff does too and I know my owner does.  Whether that translates to wins - and it may or may not - but to see the attitude and see the passion, and we want to see it from our young guys.  So there's a challenge to our young guys right now.  You have 28 games; that's a college season.  How do you play?  What have you gotten better at?  It's now time to take a step, because in 28 games, you're not rookies anymore.  I think that's a big thing.  So use these 28 games to get to the next step. "

Considering his purpose for the trade, it was not exactly so bad.