NBA Alumni Daniel Orton & Fab Melo Key Players in Massive D-League Trade Day

On Wednesday, a massive four-team trade gave way to the D-League returns of former NBA big men Daniel Orton and Fab Melo, both of whom spent parts of last season in the minor league while on assignment.

But Orton and Melo weren't the only NBA alumni on the move. As part of two seperate deals, a handful of players who have had a cup of coffee in The Association were forced to change destinations. Coincidentally enough, the Tulsa 66ers happened to be part of both trades. For more details, see below for the team's press release:

Tulsa acquired [Mustafa] Shakur from the Erie BayHawks through a four-team trade in exchange for center Daniel Orton, who was traded to the Maine Red Claws. Maine traded center Fab Melo to the Texas Legends, who sent guard Tyler Brown to Maine and guard Sean Singletary to Erie. The entirety of the four-team deal is contingent on all players passing physicals.

In a separate transaction, Tulsa acquired a third-round draft pick in the 2014 NBA D-League Draft from the Canton Charge in exchange for guard Ben Uzoh. The acquired draft pick originally belonged to the Texas Legends.

Aside from the two big men, Shakur, Singletary, and Uzoh are all well known commodities around NBA circles having been in the league before. Here are some other takeaways from the dual transactions, as it relates to each team's respective acquisitions and/or losses:

1) #FreeMustafa? Shakur has been a steady floor general for Erie this year, but really has the ability to pour in the points and provide his team with an offensive punch if given the opportunity to run the open floor with abandon.

2) An NBA vet himself, Ben Uzoh departs a losing situation in Tulsa to join the Canton Charge, who have maintained a healthy winning atmosphere despite a new coaching staff. But how will Uzoh co-exist with already existent point guards Jorge Gutierrez and Bo Spencer? Is another trade on the horizon for the Charge?

3) Fab Melo comes to the Texas Legends to team up with past Dallas Mavericks' training camp teammate Devin Ebanks. But because the Mavs didn't actually own the big man's D-League rights, they had to acquire them via this trade in order to be able to closely monitor his progress.

4) In a similar scenario, the Maine Red Claws needed to acquire Orton via trade. Despite starting the season with the 76ers in the NBA, the big man's D-League rights were held by the 66ers, affiliate of Orton's former NBA team, the OKC Thunder.

5) Whereas Shakur may benefit from the move to Tulsa because he could potentially be let loose a bit more offensively, Singletary also enters a seemingly ideal situation for himself in Erie as well. Recently adding to its core group with the likes of Micah Downs and Chris Smith, the BayHawks undoubtedly have plenty of offensive firepower for Singletary to play alongside. A skilled playmaker, perhaps the point guard will prove to be perfect extension of the coach on the floor as Erie looks to continue turning things around this season.