It was, in short, the wildest trade deadline of the millennium.

Wilder than the one where Juwan Howard got traded.

Wilder than both of those, actually.

You had two teams completing a blockbuster at the buzzer, and neither team is owned by Mark Cuban.

You had the Dallas Mavericks spectating quietly at the finish, largely because not even the "Bank of Cuban" -- as the Mavs' owner dubbed it Thursday night -- has a 24-hour ATM machine in today's NBA and its new ecomony.

By means of review, we comb one-by-one through the teams mentioned most prominently on deadline day, whether or not they participated in an actual trade.

Milwaukee Bucks
The collapse last spring, from first place in the Central all the way out of the playoffs, was a stunner. Yet the Bucks, in less than a year since, have remade their team just as dramatically. Glenn Robinson and now Ray Allen are gone.

Gary Payton and Desmond Mason -- the high-flying, defense-first swingman who almost no one's talking about in this deal -- just joined an array of perimeter specialists that includes Sam Cassell, Michael Redd and Toni Kukoc.

The Bucks are still undersized, but the retooling should also serve an important side impact by recharging coach George Karl. Furious George has been submerged in suffering for months after last season's Bucks implosion, followed by the humbling sixth-place finish of Team USA at the World Championships. Payton's arrival changes the atmosphere, and that's important because Karl (unlike Robinson and Allen) is rather unmovable with an annual salary of $7 million. Karl has been longing for a Payton reunion for years and suddenly has a start-fresh roster filled with promise.

The Bucks, furthermore, quietly believe Karl can help convince Payton to re-sign this summer at reasonable terms. There will undoubtedly be concerns raised about keeping Payton and how he'll coexist with Sam Cassell. There will also be questions about Sen. Herb Kohl's stated interest to sell the team, and how that might lead to GP's hasty departure. Go ahead, ask away. The Bucks needed a virtual cleanout after what happened last spring and came out on the other side with the Glove. Payton might be miffed initially to be leaving the city he wanted to play in forever, but he has been unhappy with the Sonics for years. This really could work, and that's why this was Milwaukee's deadline day.

Seattle SuperSonics
By all accounts, the Sonics were willing to move Payton at the deadline on only two conditions. The first stipulated that the team receiving Payton would have to take two of Seattle's centers with onerous contracts: Calvin Booth, Jerome James and Vitaly Potapenko. The second allowed for an exception in which the team receiving Payton would send Seattle a certifiable star.

When the Bucks made Allen available, the Sonics decided that they had to make the swap, to guard against Payton leaving them with nothing by departing via free agency this summer. The Sonics decided, in essence, that getting Allen now is better than anything they could do in a Payton sign-and-trade in August. It all sounds logical, but the issue is whether Allen -- a dead-eye shooter and an Olympian and also a true gentleman -- is a franchise player.

Whether Allen really is the best return the Sonics could get for Payton, when ideally the departure of a future Hall of Famer would have fetched a top-flight point guard or power player. There's no argument here that the Sonics needed a fresh start as much as the Bucks did. Owner Howard Schultz, in a thinly veiled swipe at GP's combustible nature, spoke Thursday of how Allen brings a "sense of maturity, professionalism and a kind of mentoring I don't think we have here."

Safe to say the fiercely loyal, Starbucks-swigging locals won't be so easily convinced. It has always amazed me how revered Payton is in Seattle given all the turmoil that has enveloped the Sonics throughout his career. Allen is going to need more high-quality help to win them over.

New Orleans Hornets
On-and-off talks with Sonics about an Elden Campbell-for-Kenny Anderson swap proved fruitful. As a result, the Hornets have Anderson as Baron Davis insurance and the Sonics have another center to try down low. Since both are free agents, don't be surprised to see Campbell and Anderson in different uniforms next season.

In the now, New Orleans sees this as the more appealing deal -- with no dissent here -- than the other exchange of free agents-to-be that was discussed: Campbell to San Antonio for Steve Smith.

Dallas Mavericks
Don Nelson was pushing hard for the acquisition of Miami's Brian Grant.

Knowing they can't rely on Shawn Bradley or zone defenses in the playoffs, and acutely aware of the need for rebounding and tenacity in the post, the Mavericks discussed such a move for much of the week with the hope that Mark Cuban could be convinced to absorb the financial implications of a Grant swap featuring Nick Van Exel.

Yet even Cuban has limits, and there would be no budging from them even after two straight splashes at the February deadline. Cuban ultimately held firm on his insistence that any deal at Grant's salary level would have to be a trade that assured the Mavericks of a spot in the Finals. Adding Grant wouldn't guarantee that, in spite of his status as the league's No. 5 rebounder at 10.9 boards per game, and so the talks with Miami were abandoned Thursday afternoon. Grant has four years left on his contract at a guaranteed $55 million, two years more than Van Exel.

The luxury-tax bill for adding Grant, in a trade that wouldn't necessarily vault Dallas ahead of Sacramento or San Antonio as the chief threat to the Los Angeles Lakers' run of three straight championships, therefore couldn't be justified. Of course, now the Mavericks have to re-embrace Van Exel -- who knew he was the guy at risk to be shipped out -- and convince themselves they don't need anything to be a title contender. Money won't be involved but it might not be any easier a task than trying to move big-money contracts in the luxury-tax world of the modern NBA.

Miami Heat
The Heat actually had its own cause for pause in talks with Dallas. The trade, also featuring Miami's Travis Best and Dallas' Evan Eschmeyer, would have forced the Heat to absorb the four years and $13 million left on Eschmeyer's contract. Pat Riley couldn't reconcile that bank statement, even though the trade still could have provided Miami nearly $20 million in overall salary-cap savings, a figure that's essentially doubled when taking the luxury-tax impact into account.

Boston Celtics
Got a big man from Denver, as expected. A month ago, the Celtics thought it would be Rodney White. When the trade actually happened, after backing off White, the Celtics scored Mark Blount and the more seasoned Mark Bryant without parting with a first-round pick which was another Boston aim.

Denver Nuggets
Got from Boston what it always aims for. In other words, cap space and an extra pick, albeit a second-rounder. Shammond Williams, acquired in the Blount exchange, is in the final year of his contract to give the Nuggets another $2 million of wiggle room for this summer's overhaul.

Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have wanted Payton for at least as long as the Bucks have, but not if they had to part with Al Harrington. Their offer apparently topped out at Jonathan Bender, Jamaal Tinsley and Austin Croshere, which is why Mr. Glove was snared by a division rival.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Garnett's Wolves had nothing to offer for Payton, much as KG and GP would love to unite, which is an even worse feeling than what Indy endured.

New York Knicks
For hours after the new 3 p.m. deadline, moved up three hours, speculation swirled about a Latrell Sprewell deal. Two Spree deals, actually -- one with Milwaukee involving Sam Cassell and another with Toronto including Knicks teammate Kurt Thomas and the Raptors' Antonio Davis and Mo Peterson.

Turns out they were both non-starters, despite reports that the Knicks had formally requested an extension from the league to finish 11th-hour Spree talks. NBA officials and the Knicks deny such a request and the Bucks strongly insist that they weren't discussing a deal involving Cassell and Sprewell. All of which left Scott Layden wholly unfulfilled on the same day a previous Knicks GM (Grunfeld) orchestrated a bombshell.

Wild, huh?

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, send Stein a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.