As rumors fly long past the NBA's trade deadline, Marc Stein of ESPN.com checks in with a Weekend Dime that's heavy on items about Josh Smith, as well as plenty of news about the Rockets. There's even a link between Smith and Houston, so let's dig in. 

• The Bucks came closest to acquiring Smith at the deadline, as a source tells Stein that Atlanta's talks with the Sixers were never as serious as they were with Milwaukee. 
• Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier today that the Hawks nearly sent Smith to the Celtics, but Stein hears Atlanta's brass shared the concerns of many NBA teams that C's basketball president Danny Ainge would get cold feet about dealing one of his stars. Paul Pierce would have been sent to the Mavs in the rumored Smith-to-Boston trade.
• The Hawks preferred to send Smith to the Western Conference, but were rebuffed by the Mavs, who refused to add a draft pick to a package that already included Vince Carter, Chris Kaman, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright and Dahntay Jones. Many of those Mavericks were also part of the proposed three-way trade with the Celtics.
• If the Rockets don't land top target Dwight Howard this summer, they'll turn their attention to Smith and Andrew Bynum next, sources tell Stein.
• Aaron Brooks forfeited just under $3.4MM in his buyout from the Kings, Stein hears. Brooks was set to make $3.396MM next season on a player option, so presumably the buyout simply entailed him declining that option.
• I took a look in January at all the former Rockets the team still has on the payroll, a list that's since grown even longer, as Stein notes. Houston has waived or bought out 10 players this season, all of whom are still on the team's cap.
• Stein catches up with Thomas Robinson, who was surprised when the Kings drafted him last year and "shocked" when they traded him to the Rockets at the deadline.
• There's a schism in thought around the league about whether Monta Ellis is leaning toward staying with the Bucks next season or exercising his early-termination option to hit free agency this summer. 
• Samuel Dalembert is hitting free agency no matter what, but echoing his report before the trade deadline that Milwaukee was no longer trying to move Dalembert, Stein says the Bucks have some interest in re-signing the Haitian center.

Although the Celtics stood relatively pat at last month's trade deadline, the team very nearly agreed to a blockbuster deal that would have sent Paul Pierce to Dallas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski reports that the Celtics, Mavericks, and Hawks discussed a three-way trade that would have seen Boston acquire Josh Smith. However, the Hawks wanted a first-round pick in the deal, which the C's were unwilling to include.

According to Wojnarowski, the package that would have gone to the Hawks from the Mavericks featured Dahntay Jones, Jae Crowder, and Brandan Wright, along with the ability to swap picks in the 2013 draft. Based on Wojnarowski's report, it appears Atlanta was on board with the pieces coming from Dallas, but required one more sweetener from Boston, and the C's didn't relent.

The failed deal makes sense from Atlanta's perspective, since the club was looking to acquire some combination of young talent, expiring contracts, and draft picks in exchange for Smith. From the Celtics' perspective, Danny Ainge presumably felt that Smith was a player in his prime that the team could attempt to re-sign and keep for the long-term, though the GM wasn't willing to pay an exorbitant price to land him.

As for the Mavericks, they would have received another All-Star caliber veteran to pair with Dirk Nowitzki, but both players are in their mid-30s, and keeping Pierce next season would have eaten up the majority of the club's 2013/14 cap space. I feel like there must be a detail missing from the package that would have gone to Atlanta, since the Jones/Crowder/Wright trio earns significantly less than Pierce this season, meaning more salary would have to be included to make the deal work under CBA rules. Perhaps Shawn Marion, who has a $9.07MM player option for '13/14, was also in the proposal, which would have allowed Dallas to retain some financial flexibility in the summer. That's just my speculation though. Including Chris Kaman's expiring contract would also have worked for salary-matching purposes.

After being unable to finalize this deal, all three involved teams made smaller moves. The Celtics acquired Jordan Crawford from the Wizards, the Hawks acquired Jeremy Tyler from the Warriors, and the Mavericks and Hawks swapped Jones and Anthony Morrow.

A complete recap of trades that were completed before Thursday's trade deadline:

• The Houston Rockets traded Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns and Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, and Toney Douglas to the Sacramento Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt, and a future second-round pick.
• The Miami Heat traded Dexter Pittman and a future second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for the rights to Ricky Sanchez and cash considerations.
• The Washington Wizards traded Jordan Crawford to the Boston Celtics for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers for a trade exception and the rights to Georgios Printezis. The Blazers waived Ronnie Price to clear a roster spot for Maynor.
• The Thunder also acquired Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks for a future second-round pick.
• The Atlanta Hawks traded Anthony Morrow to the Dallas Mavericks for Dahntay Jones.
• The Suns traded Sebastian Telfair to the Toronto Raptors for Hamed Haddadi and a future second-round pick.
• The Orlando Magic traded J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon, and Ishmael Smith to the Milwaukee Bucks for Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris, and Doron Lamb.
• In a separate deal, the Magic traded Josh McRoberts to the Charlotte Bobcats for Hakim Warrick. 
• The Golden State Warriors traded Jeremy Tyler to the Hawks for a second-round pick. They also traded Charles Jenkins to the Philadelphia 76ers for an additional second-round pick.

The Hawks have sent Anthony Morrow to the Mavericks for Dahntay Jones, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Jones was reportedly going to be part of a deal for Beno Udrih, but apparently that one didn't materialize for Dallas. Both swingmen are on expiring contracts, though Morrow makes $4MM while Jones is earning $2.9MM this year. The salaries are still close enough for salary-matching purposes, and neither team is close enough to the tax for the difference to have an effect.

Morrow, 27, is seeing a career low 12.5 minutes per game this year with Atlanta after coming over during the summer in the Joe Johnson trade. He led the league in three-point percentage in 2o08/09 for the Warriors, making 46.7% of his long-range attempts as a rookie. He's a career 42.5% three-point shooter.

Jones, 32, saw about the same amount of floor time for Dallas (12.7 MPG), but doesn't provide the outside shooting presence that Morrow does. Instead, he's seen as a defensive presence, and started 71 games in front of J.R. Smith for the 2008/09 Nuggets, who advanced to the Western Conference Finals. 

1:29pm: If Udrih isn't used as part of a larger deal, the Bucks will likely send him to Dallas for Dahntay Jones and Rodrigue Beaubois, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

8:49am: The Bucks are one of the league's most active teams leading up to today's deadline, and figure to explore larger deals right up until 2:00pm. However, if the club doesn't move Beno Udrih and his expiring contract in one of those larger trades, Milwaukee could send him to the Mavericks, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).

Udrih, who is averaging just 18.4 minutes per game for the Bucks, is overpaid at $7.37MM, but that salary could make him an attractive chip for a team like the Mavs, who are looking to clear cap room for the coming summer. It's not clear if Dallas would send out lesser expiring deals in the hypothetical trade, or whether they'd move a player like Shawn Marion, who is under contract beyond this season.

Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW engaged in a chat with fans about the Mavericks' offseason. Among his more notable thoughts were that the team's interest in Steve Nash was never that serious, Mark Cuban deserves to be applauded for their attempt to land Deron Williams despite falling short, and that he gives the team a grade of "B"  for their work this summer. Here are some more of the highlights:

• The additions of Darren Collison, Dahntay Jones, O.J. Mayo, and Elton Brand should give Dirk Nowitzki plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming season. 
• Sefko has continued to hear good things about Jae Crowder (selected 34th overall in last month's draft) and thinks that Crowder, along with first-round pick Jared Cunningham, should receive long looks in training camp. 
• Being able to reserve cap room along with the collection of assets and one-year contracts that Dallas obtained this summer, he believes that the team still feels they have a shot at landing Dwight Howard, whether via trade or during free agency next summer. 

Rick Bonnell from the Charlotte Observer tweets that the Nets may have offered Kris Humphries either a two-year, $20MM or a three-year, $26MM contract. 

As summer league kicks off tonight in Las Vegas, here's some more news from around the league. 

• Ukrainian center Slava Kravtsov has told a website in his native country that he's signed a two-year, $3MM contract with the Pistons, but the team has yet to make a formal announcement, writes MLive.com's David Mayo. A signing has been expected, but complications regarding a buyout clause with Kravtsov's European team have delayed the proceedings.  
• The Warriors have shown interest in DeJuan Blair, but the Spurs are asking for a first round pick, which is something Golden State doesn't currently have to offer. (Sulia link)
• If the recently traded Dahntay Jones ends up being bought out by the Mavericks and becomes a free agent, his services would certainly be in demand by the Celtics, a team still looking to fill according to a tweet from the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn. 
• The Trail Blazers have been in talks with retired future Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson for the past few months about taking over as the team's next head coach, but he's decided not to accept the offer, according to CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes.
• Matt Steinmetz from CSNBayArea.com writes that incoming rookie Draymond Green could see significant minutes for the Warriors in this upcoming season. 
• Newsday's Al Iannazzone writes about the Knicks newly signed J.R. Smith and how he's excited to team up with Jason Kidd. 
• ESPN.com's Chad Ford grades every team on how they've done so far this offseason. (Insider)

THURSDAY, 4:51pm: Indiana announced the deal through an official press release. 

WEDNESDAY: The Pacers have traded Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones to the Mavs for Ian Mahinmi, who will sign a four-year, $16MM contract as part of the deal, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter links). Jones is due $2.9MM next season and Collison about $2.3MM, so, as John Hollinger of ESPN.com points out, that eats into the amnesty bid the team could make for Elton Brand (Twitter link). Presumably, this also takes Dallas out of the running for Aaron Brooks.

The Pacers are expected to either match Roy Hibbert's offer sheet from the Blazers or sign him outright, so Mahinmi will likely be the backup center for the team. Indiana also has 7'0" Miles Plumlee, the team's first-round draft pick. 

Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida reported that guard Dahntay Jones picked up his $2.9MM player option to remain with the Pacers next season, according to Jones' agent Mark Bartelstein (Sulia link). Jones appeared in 65 games this year, averaging 5.3 PPG in 16.2 MPG while shooting 42.3% from three.