You forgot about Gordon when you talked about their young guards. He is half the reason their winning these games.
As for the trades, I guess you mean Artest and Crawford.
Artest.....well, I think both teams lost in that trade. As for Crawford, we couldn't have kept him and Kirk, he just wasn't having it. He wasn't playing anything like he is now with the Knicks either (tho he got hurt recently)
Don't forget about Williams and his motorcycle accident. You don't just lose your first round (second pick overall?) draft pick and shrug it off.