The second round of the NBA Playoffs weren’t as thrilling as I hoped they would be (the first round either outside of the Los Angeles and OKC series), and there is good reason for that. There were only a couple of games that were truly close and needed crunch time heroics from their stars, while the majority of games were convincing victories. Also, only one of the four series wasn’t a sweep (Cleveland vs. Boston) and even that series included a few blowouts that nobody would have been interested seeing through to the finish. Graphic designer Dan Sweet helped put the second round into perspective with this great chart of game-by-game scoring outputs for each team in each series. He also compiled the data from round one if you are interested.

Since most of the series haven’t been all that suspenseful, what storylines are keeping you glued to the playoffs?

While the Tracy McGrady and Kevin Martin megatrade and just where Amar’e Stoudemire might (not) end up dominated talks about the trading deadline, the Charlotte Bobcats quietly went about their business and made trades that will make their team more dynamic and versatile.

The Bobcats shipped out reserve swingman Flip Murray, the seldomly used Acie Law and a first-round draft pick to Chicago in exchange for the tumultuous Tyrus Thomas. I actually love the idea of Thomas on the Bobcats, if for no other reason that a tandem of Thomas and Gerald Wallace would make for one of the most athletic, defensive -minded frontcourts in the league. Add them alongside Raymond Felton, Stephen Jackson and a healthy Tyson Chandler, and you’ve got a lineup that will wreak havoc in the passing lanes, challenge every shot, and scrap for rebounds and loose balls. Half-court offense could be an issue for this group, but hopefully their defensive efforts could lead to easy fast-break buckets at the other end.

The Bulls on the other hand are happy to get rid of Thomas, as he hasn’t seen eye to eye with coach Vinny del Negro this season and has often been a distraction for the team. Thomas didn’t take well to his prolonged role as a reserve, and he hasn’t shown that he can perform consistently off the bench. Still, he will get tutelage under one of the most decorated coaches in all of basketball in Larry Brown. At risk of being cliche, I will point out that Brown was Allen Iverson’s dream coach and Jackson also appears to be happy on the Bobcats, so dealing with difficult personalities is one of Browns specialties. If he can tap into Thomas’ full potential, the ‘Cats certainly took their talent level up a notch with this trade.

The acquisition of Murray is a welcome one in Chicago on the heels of trading away John Salmons. Murray will be looked to to provide a scoring punch off the bench, in a nearly identical role as to what Salmons was called upon to do. Law will likely continue his undesireable trend of being buried on the bench behind more dynamic point guards, as he won’t see much run behind Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich at the point.

The Bobcats also pulled the trigger on a minor deal with San Antonio which had them sending a protected second-round draft pick in 2016 (I couldn’t make this stuff up) in exchange for Theo Ratliff. Ratliff will provide the Bobcats with another big body for the inevitable games that Chandler (foot, ankle, etc.) and Nazr Mohammed (back) will miss due to injury.