Another trade deadline has come and gone in the NBA, leaving dozens of players sighing with relief and canceling their appointments with the movers.

One former Gator changed teams at the deadline, leaving New York for Chicago, but it wasn’t the one who many expected.

Anthony Roberson was a part of a cost-cutting move that sent his contract, along with Tim Thomas and Jerome James to the Bulls for Larry Hughes’ $12.8 million per-year deal that ends after next season.

The move works for the Knicks, because they can shed Hughes’ deal right when the LeBron James sweepstakes heats up in the summer of 2010.

For the Bulls, they rid their roster of a player that had caused locker room distractions and add a little depth after a three-for-two player deal earlier in the week with the Sacramento Kings.

Roberson’s already small role will likely be downsized even more on a Bulls team already boasting one of the best young point guards in the league in No. 1 overall pick Derrick Rose.

The addition of Thomas, as well as Brad Miller from the Kings, means that current Bulls starting center Joakim Noah is likely to have his minutes cut as the team tries to make a playoff run.

The Bulls are ninth in the East, one game back from Milwaukee for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

All speculation regarding former Gators in the time leading up to the trading deadline was focused squarely on New York’s other Gator, David Lee. With several offers for the free-agent-to-be Lee reportedly on the table, New York GM Donnie Walsh decided in the waning hours before the deadline that any team wanting to get the prized forward was going to have to take on center Eddy Curry’s final two years at $20 million.

Lee was safe in New York.

In Minnesota, speculation had the Timberwolves looking at the possibility of trading Mike Miller, but his manageable contract (roughly $8.5 million a year for the next two year) and his improved play after being reinserted into the starting lineup, made it harder to sell him off.

This was the second year in a row that a former Gator point guard was dealt at the deadline. Last year, Portland dealt Taurean Green to Denver for ex-FSU Seminole point guard Von Wafer, who is now on Houston’s roster.

Green, however, plays for Basket Zaragoza 2002 of the Spanish ACB League, where he’s third on the team with 9.7 points per game.