Officially, it went down as a trade. Unofficially, it was widely considered to be as one-sided as the Louisiana Purchase.

Back in August of 2000, the Orlando Magic signed power forward Ben Wallace and point guard Chucky Atkins and traded them to the Detroit Pistons for All-Star Grant Hill. Basically, Orlando walked away with the prize, Detroit the parts.

Two seasons later, the trade has been an uneven one, all right. Except it is the Pistons who have reaped the most from the summertime swap.

Hill's injuries combined with Wallace's steady rise to where he now is one of the game's most rugged defenders and rebounders has turned the trade into a disastrous one for the Magic. Hill, one of the game's five best players when healthy, has played just 18 games the past two seasons and is out again for the rest of this season because of the break in his ankle.

Magic fans undoubtedly remember that Wallace clearly was the team's most valuable player in 2000. And he has since just gotten better and better.

Although he only is 6-foot-9, he can guard centers and power forwards equally well because of his power and quickness off the floor. Averaging an NBA-best 3.37 blocks and 12.2 rebounds (second in the NBA), Wallace is a big reason why Detroit is one of the league's most surprising teams and why he should be the leading candidate for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. Magic head coach Doc Rivers still refers to Wallace as "the power forward version of Jason Kidd."

Wallace never was better than last week, averaging 11.0 points, 13.8 rebounds and 6.0 blocks in four games. He also registered a jaw-dropping triple-double, putting up 10 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks against Milwaukee. It was enough to earn him the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award.

The Magic get another look at Wallace Friday when they play in Detroit. Forgive them if they are still wondering what might have been had they not pulled off the trade that still haunts them to this day.

Marcus Camby reportedly is hurt that the New York Knicks worked furiously to move him prior to last Thursday's trade deadline, offering him to Dallas, Denver and Phoenix. Camby hurt? Now there's a shocker.

Speaking of Charmin-soft players, Penny Hardaway left the Suns this week to get more treatment on his troublesome knee. Wonder if it had anything to do with Phoenix acquiring Joe Johnson, a promising rookie who will dramatically cut into Hardaway's playing time?

Like most who play for the Philadelphia 76ers long enough, Matt Harpring has grown tired of head coach Larry Brown's incessant criticism and controlling nature. Harpring, who spent his first two seasons with the Magic, looked out of rhythm and lost in the Philadelphia offense when the Sixers were dismantled in Orlando last Saturday. Brown has been on him most of this season to forgo shooting and to instead just focus on rebounding and defense. Basically, he wants him to be George Lynch, the small forward Philadelphia unwisely traded away last summer.
"If they wanted me to be like George Lynch, then they should've just kept George Lynch," Harpring said. "Otherwise, I'm not George Lynch, and I don't really want to be like George Lynch. He's a great guy, but I don't think I play like him."

Wonder what the suits at NBC are thinking now that Michael Jordan will have knee surgery. Just this week, NBC finagled its TV schedule in order to pick up two more of Jordan's games (March 24 vs. Toronto and March 31 vs. Dallas). The latter change knocked the Magic-Knicks off the air, the third time that has happened to Orlando this season. Orlando will appear on NBC on Sunday -- but only because it is playing the Wizards.

Talk about your programs being ravaged by guys bolting for the pros. Could the University of Florida possibly handle losing Steve Spurrier and Billy Donovan to the pro ranks in the same year? Expect those Donovan-to-the-Knicks rumors to begin heating up any day now.

Shaq on Dallas' chances of upsetting the Lakers after acquiring Raef LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel: "It won't work. They added a lot of shooters, but their shooters have to play defense. Shooters always come out hot. But after banging with me for four quarters their legs are not going to be there."

Chris Webber is talking to the Sacramento news media again, breaking his vow of silence after fuming about the report of his budding relationship with model Tyra Banks. But it was Kings' teammate Peja Stojakovic who stole Webber's thunder last week when he made this pronouncement to the media: "Chris said to tell you that he was going to San Francisco with Tyra Banks, and he was going to have caviar, flowers, Cristal, strawberries and whipped cream."
No word yet on whether Webber still is speaking to Stojakovic.

Denton's top 10: 1. Lakers; 2. Nets; 3. Mavericks; 4. Kings; 5. Spurs; 6. Timberwolves; 7. Pistons; 8. Jazz; 9. Bucks; 10. Trail Blazers.John Denton writes for Florida Today. You can reach him by calling (321) 242-3690. You can e-mail him at jdenton@flatoday.net