2009 NBA Offseason, Part II
VERY exciting offseason! Let's look at a team by team basis rather than a move by move basis.
San Antonio Spurs
Moves: Traded for Richard Jefferson (Bowen; Oberto; Thomas); Signed Antonio McDyess
A fantastic offseason for the Spurs. I don't think McDyess is quite the bench presence he was a few years ago; I think the Spurs need to find one more decent big man to truly be a threat to the Lakers. This team definitely improved dramatically this offseason.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Moves: Traded for Shaq (Ben Wallace & Sasha Pavlovich); Resigned Anderson Verajao; signed Anthony Parker
I'm not a fan of the offseason for the Cavs. The Cavs were beat because they had an old, lumbering center who couldn't defend the pick and roll and couldn't guard the more agile Dwight Howard. Does Shaq help with either of these issues? No. The Verajao contract is ridiculous; $11 mil for a roll player over 4 years as the cap is shrinking? Plus when Lebron leaves next season you'll find that Verajao is close to worthless without him. He is the standard of the energy roll player who must be teamed with a great player to be affective at all. The Cavs didn't get any worse this offseason, but they certainly didn't get any better.
Orlando Magic
Moves: Traded for Vince Carter & Ryan Anderson (Courtney Lee; Rafer Alston; Tony Battie); Lost Hedo Turkoglu (FA) & Marcin Gortat (FA)
The Magic are done being a championship-contending team. Turkoglu was their real MVP; a good clutch scorer, one of their best ballhandlers, and by far their best passer. Lee was an integral part of their lineup as a great glue guy: a tough, energetic rookie who was a great defensive presence and could score. We all know what Vince Carter is: a classic good player on a bad team kind of guy, who's passing skills aren't even close to Turkoglu and will shrink from the moment. Finally, the Magic lost both of their backup big men in Battie and Gortat. There is literally no one to back up Howard or Lewis. This will come back to haunt them. The Magic are still a very good team, but they aren't a true championship contender anymore.
Boston Celtics
Moves: Signed F/C Rasheed Wallace
This was a good signing and improved the Celtics...but I'm not sure this was exactly what they needed. The C's still need someone to fill James Posey's shoes: a tough, speedy SF/SG who defends well and can hit an open 3. They really could have used Trevor Ariza, Dahntay Jones, or Quinton Ross, but got none of them. Getting Rasheed for only two years was a great move though; they didn't have to tie up long term money with him because he just doesn't have that much left.
Sadly, this is also a good move in case KG can't make it all the way back. Obviously the Celtics as championship contenders depends on him coming back at at least 90% of what he was last season. I'm curious to see how they will play Sheed, too, because I can promise you that Kendrick Perkins is not going to take kindly to coming off the bench. Can Sheed swallow his ego and be a 6th man, a roll he would be perfect for as he could sub in for either Perkins or KG depending on team need? We'll see.
LA Clippers
Moves: Drafted Blake Griffin; Traded Zach Randolph to Grizzlies (Quentin Richardson)
Not very often you can say this, but excellent work by the Clips. They found someone stupid enough to take Randolph's awful contract (saving $8 mil and picking up an expiring 2010 contract in Richardson), and opened up playing time for Griffin. The Clips are actually an interesting team now; a good center combo in Camby and Kaman (and they could still move Camby), great young PF, solid improving young SF in Al Thornton, a potentially good SG in Eric Gordon (though I'm still not sold on him), and Baron Davis at the point with lots of cap room in the offseason. They won't make the playoffs, but they'll be entertaining to watch.
Detroit Pistons
Moves: Signed Ben Gordon & Charlie Villanueva to ridiculous contracts; Got some guy to be the head coach
The Detroit Pistons UNQUESTIONABLY just ruined their franchise for the next five years. They're done. Completely. They just locked up almost $100 million over 5 years in two players who will never be All Stars. They also fixed the problem that ruined their season this past season--"Richard Hamilton has to be a starter"--by spending $55 million on a player who plays the exact same position as Hamilton, has almost the exact same game (scoring and nothing else), and has bitched about coming off the bench while with his last team. And don't even get me started on Charlie V, who know that he has his money is going to retire and forget to tell the Pistons. This team is set up like a fantasty league team--and not a good one, either. The Pistons are D-U-N done.
LA Lakers
Moves: Signed Ron Artest, Resigned Lamar Odom (imminent)
LA...welcome to the show! Simply put, this is an awful idea. Rumor has it that Ron Ron wasn't really well behaved last season--the Rockets just managed to keep it quiet. Ron in LA is going to go nuts, and this will drive Kobe up the wall. Also, count me among those who think the logic of "Lamar Odom will keep him in line!" is absolute nonsense, and that the likely scenario will be "Ron Ron convince LO, 'Fuck it, I've got my ring and my new contract, let's party!'" This will not end well.
Let's look at it strictly from a basketball perspective as well. The Lakers essentially traded a young, athletic support player who played well within their offense for an older, stronger, but far less quick player who is awful offensively. Yes, Ron Ron puts up offensive stats, but they have been steadily slipping and his offense has basically devolved into jacking up AWFUL 3's. Does that sound like a guy Kobe is going to enjoy playing with?
This deal made me very happy.
Houston Rockets
Moves: Signed Trevor Ariza, Lost Yao Ming for the season (injury)
The Rockets are pretty much screwed, as I've already addressed. I like Trevor Ariza a lot...but as a supporting player. Unfortunately, on this team he'll be asked to support TMac as he is now God only knows how old and coming off of microfracture surgery. This is not a good thing.
I think the Rockets will still be a good team; they'll play hard every night, and they do have the jack of all trades thing going in that each of their players are good. However, about their best bet is the 7-8-9 seed in the West now.
Toronto Raptors
Moves: Signed Hedo Turkoglu, Resigned Andrea Bargani & Carlos Delfino, Traded for Antoine Wright (Shawn Marion), Lost Anthony Parker (FA)
Nice offseason for the Raptors, but I don't think it's going to accomplish what they want to accomplish. The Raptors will make the playoffs but are not a serious contender in the East. I still think Chris Bosh will leave after next season; he's smart enough to realize that the Raptors at best will now be stuck in mediocreville, and this is his one chance to change teams and still make good money in the process. I don't blame him.
Honorable Mentions
Good job by the Pacers for picking up Dahntay Jones for dirt cheap; the Nuggets will regret losing him. On the flip side, good job by the Nuggets for hanging onto Birdman. Hawks didn't get any worse with resigning Bibby and trading for Jamal Crawford, but they didn't get any better. Darko in New York is interesting in that it might be possible for him to play on every bad team in the league. He's like the modern day Orlando Woolridge. Portland, don't break the bank trying to sign Paul Milsap as it's reported you're doing. He doesn't fill a need and he'll cost you more than he's worth. Actually, wait...since Brandon Bass is your backup plan to that, nevermind, throw the bank at Milsap! How low can you possibly get when you're calling the Grizzlies and begging for a job? That's what AI has been reduced to.
Your Dallas Mavericks!
Moves: Signed Quinton Ross & Marcin Gortat; Resigned Jason Kidd; Traded for Shawn Marion (Stackhouse/Wright/George)
If the Mavs can manage to resign Brandon Bass after all of this, I'll be thrilled. We've now got a starting lineup of Kidd/Howard/Marion/Dirk/Gortat, with a bench of Barea/Terry/Ross/Bass/Dampier. If we can't resign Bass, then I can live with Ryan Hollins as our 9th man. Oddly enough, my favorite move was the Ross signing. Ross is Bruce Bowen in his younger days but a better free throw shooter: a lock down defender who can hit a wide open three. Great player to have coming off the bench, and hopefully his energy will inspire the lackluster Howard. As soon as Sessions was off the table, the Mavs had little choice but to resign Kidd, and a three year contract I can live with.
Marion I'm back and forth with. I think teaming Marion with Kidd is great; the reason Marion was so effective in Phoenix and so ineffective in Miami and Toronto is he needs a great PG to create for him, since he can't create his own shot. Kidd might not be able to stop anyone in the league defensively, but he can still create for the players around him. Marion won't put up the stats he did in Phoenix, but he'll be a force and will play well with Kidd. The problem I have with Marion is his contract; I would have much rather seen a three year deal for him than a five. However, signing him for that wasn't too realistic, and Mavs fans are going to have to live with the fact that in three years this team is probably going to have to bottom out. In the end, picking up Marion was a good deal for the Mavs.
I'm also back and forth on the Gortat signing. Gortat SCREAMS of the overrated big man who turned a coupla good performances into a contract. However...I like both what I saw in Gortat, and what I've read about him. Gortat played with fire and passion, and did a great job of consistantely taking the ball hard to the rim. He also talked shit against his coach about not being tough enough and displayed a similar sort of strength in the media.
Gortat could turn out to be another stiff, and again I would like this deal if it was for three years instead of five. That being said, I don't think this is Jerome James here; I think this is a fiery guy who will go out and play hard and pretty well every night. His talent might not be quite as good as his contract dictates, but I think the passion he'll bring will be just as important to the Mavs as his play. On top of that, the Mavs aren't asking him to do much; get a coupla dunks a game, have one or two good posts moves that you can use a coupla times a game, and rebound and guard the rim. That's about all the Mavs need him to do. After watching Dampier's uninspired and insipid play the last few years, I think Gortat will be a breath of fresh air and could become a fan favorite.
The one thing the Mavs are still lacking is the true perimeter swingman; the small forward who slashes to the basket and makes teams respect him taking it to the rim. That being said, the Mavs have improved immensenly this offseason. Their depth is greatly increased, and their overall talent has been greatly increased. On top of all that, I like the way the pieces fit. Throw in the fact that this is a contract year for Howard, and this could be a great season for the Mavs. I don't think they're quite on the Lakers or Spurs level, but they are much better than the Rockets or Jazz, and I do think that they are now better than the Nuggets and Blazers.
The Mavs have definitely gone all in, but I think that this was a smart way to go all in. It's going to be a very interesting season for them. Go Mavs!!!
Several more pieces need to play out: will Grant Hill go to the Celtics? Where will AI end up? Will the Blazers get Millsap? Will Amare or TMac get dealt? More to come, but we're starting to get a pretty good idea of how teams will look next season.
Remember kids...the NBA...it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!!!!!
San Antonio Spurs
Moves: Traded for Richard Jefferson (Bowen; Oberto; Thomas); Signed Antonio McDyess
A fantastic offseason for the Spurs. I don't think McDyess is quite the bench presence he was a few years ago; I think the Spurs need to find one more decent big man to truly be a threat to the Lakers. This team definitely improved dramatically this offseason.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Moves: Traded for Shaq (Ben Wallace & Sasha Pavlovich); Resigned Anderson Verajao; signed Anthony Parker
I'm not a fan of the offseason for the Cavs. The Cavs were beat because they had an old, lumbering center who couldn't defend the pick and roll and couldn't guard the more agile Dwight Howard. Does Shaq help with either of these issues? No. The Verajao contract is ridiculous; $11 mil for a roll player over 4 years as the cap is shrinking? Plus when Lebron leaves next season you'll find that Verajao is close to worthless without him. He is the standard of the energy roll player who must be teamed with a great player to be affective at all. The Cavs didn't get any worse this offseason, but they certainly didn't get any better.
Orlando Magic
Moves: Traded for Vince Carter & Ryan Anderson (Courtney Lee; Rafer Alston; Tony Battie); Lost Hedo Turkoglu (FA) & Marcin Gortat (FA)
The Magic are done being a championship-contending team. Turkoglu was their real MVP; a good clutch scorer, one of their best ballhandlers, and by far their best passer. Lee was an integral part of their lineup as a great glue guy: a tough, energetic rookie who was a great defensive presence and could score. We all know what Vince Carter is: a classic good player on a bad team kind of guy, who's passing skills aren't even close to Turkoglu and will shrink from the moment. Finally, the Magic lost both of their backup big men in Battie and Gortat. There is literally no one to back up Howard or Lewis. This will come back to haunt them. The Magic are still a very good team, but they aren't a true championship contender anymore.
Boston Celtics
Moves: Signed F/C Rasheed Wallace
This was a good signing and improved the Celtics...but I'm not sure this was exactly what they needed. The C's still need someone to fill James Posey's shoes: a tough, speedy SF/SG who defends well and can hit an open 3. They really could have used Trevor Ariza, Dahntay Jones, or Quinton Ross, but got none of them. Getting Rasheed for only two years was a great move though; they didn't have to tie up long term money with him because he just doesn't have that much left.
Sadly, this is also a good move in case KG can't make it all the way back. Obviously the Celtics as championship contenders depends on him coming back at at least 90% of what he was last season. I'm curious to see how they will play Sheed, too, because I can promise you that Kendrick Perkins is not going to take kindly to coming off the bench. Can Sheed swallow his ego and be a 6th man, a roll he would be perfect for as he could sub in for either Perkins or KG depending on team need? We'll see.
LA Clippers
Moves: Drafted Blake Griffin; Traded Zach Randolph to Grizzlies (Quentin Richardson)
Not very often you can say this, but excellent work by the Clips. They found someone stupid enough to take Randolph's awful contract (saving $8 mil and picking up an expiring 2010 contract in Richardson), and opened up playing time for Griffin. The Clips are actually an interesting team now; a good center combo in Camby and Kaman (and they could still move Camby), great young PF, solid improving young SF in Al Thornton, a potentially good SG in Eric Gordon (though I'm still not sold on him), and Baron Davis at the point with lots of cap room in the offseason. They won't make the playoffs, but they'll be entertaining to watch.
Detroit Pistons
Moves: Signed Ben Gordon & Charlie Villanueva to ridiculous contracts; Got some guy to be the head coach
The Detroit Pistons UNQUESTIONABLY just ruined their franchise for the next five years. They're done. Completely. They just locked up almost $100 million over 5 years in two players who will never be All Stars. They also fixed the problem that ruined their season this past season--"Richard Hamilton has to be a starter"--by spending $55 million on a player who plays the exact same position as Hamilton, has almost the exact same game (scoring and nothing else), and has bitched about coming off the bench while with his last team. And don't even get me started on Charlie V, who know that he has his money is going to retire and forget to tell the Pistons. This team is set up like a fantasty league team--and not a good one, either. The Pistons are D-U-N done.
LA Lakers
Moves: Signed Ron Artest, Resigned Lamar Odom (imminent)
LA...welcome to the show! Simply put, this is an awful idea. Rumor has it that Ron Ron wasn't really well behaved last season--the Rockets just managed to keep it quiet. Ron in LA is going to go nuts, and this will drive Kobe up the wall. Also, count me among those who think the logic of "Lamar Odom will keep him in line!" is absolute nonsense, and that the likely scenario will be "Ron Ron convince LO, 'Fuck it, I've got my ring and my new contract, let's party!'" This will not end well.
Let's look at it strictly from a basketball perspective as well. The Lakers essentially traded a young, athletic support player who played well within their offense for an older, stronger, but far less quick player who is awful offensively. Yes, Ron Ron puts up offensive stats, but they have been steadily slipping and his offense has basically devolved into jacking up AWFUL 3's. Does that sound like a guy Kobe is going to enjoy playing with?
This deal made me very happy.
Houston Rockets
Moves: Signed Trevor Ariza, Lost Yao Ming for the season (injury)
The Rockets are pretty much screwed, as I've already addressed. I like Trevor Ariza a lot...but as a supporting player. Unfortunately, on this team he'll be asked to support TMac as he is now God only knows how old and coming off of microfracture surgery. This is not a good thing.
I think the Rockets will still be a good team; they'll play hard every night, and they do have the jack of all trades thing going in that each of their players are good. However, about their best bet is the 7-8-9 seed in the West now.
Toronto Raptors
Moves: Signed Hedo Turkoglu, Resigned Andrea Bargani & Carlos Delfino, Traded for Antoine Wright (Shawn Marion), Lost Anthony Parker (FA)
Nice offseason for the Raptors, but I don't think it's going to accomplish what they want to accomplish. The Raptors will make the playoffs but are not a serious contender in the East. I still think Chris Bosh will leave after next season; he's smart enough to realize that the Raptors at best will now be stuck in mediocreville, and this is his one chance to change teams and still make good money in the process. I don't blame him.
Honorable Mentions
Good job by the Pacers for picking up Dahntay Jones for dirt cheap; the Nuggets will regret losing him. On the flip side, good job by the Nuggets for hanging onto Birdman. Hawks didn't get any worse with resigning Bibby and trading for Jamal Crawford, but they didn't get any better. Darko in New York is interesting in that it might be possible for him to play on every bad team in the league. He's like the modern day Orlando Woolridge. Portland, don't break the bank trying to sign Paul Milsap as it's reported you're doing. He doesn't fill a need and he'll cost you more than he's worth. Actually, wait...since Brandon Bass is your backup plan to that, nevermind, throw the bank at Milsap! How low can you possibly get when you're calling the Grizzlies and begging for a job? That's what AI has been reduced to.
Your Dallas Mavericks!
Moves: Signed Quinton Ross & Marcin Gortat; Resigned Jason Kidd; Traded for Shawn Marion (Stackhouse/Wright/George)
If the Mavs can manage to resign Brandon Bass after all of this, I'll be thrilled. We've now got a starting lineup of Kidd/Howard/Marion/Dirk/Gortat, with a bench of Barea/Terry/Ross/Bass/Dampier. If we can't resign Bass, then I can live with Ryan Hollins as our 9th man. Oddly enough, my favorite move was the Ross signing. Ross is Bruce Bowen in his younger days but a better free throw shooter: a lock down defender who can hit a wide open three. Great player to have coming off the bench, and hopefully his energy will inspire the lackluster Howard. As soon as Sessions was off the table, the Mavs had little choice but to resign Kidd, and a three year contract I can live with.
Marion I'm back and forth with. I think teaming Marion with Kidd is great; the reason Marion was so effective in Phoenix and so ineffective in Miami and Toronto is he needs a great PG to create for him, since he can't create his own shot. Kidd might not be able to stop anyone in the league defensively, but he can still create for the players around him. Marion won't put up the stats he did in Phoenix, but he'll be a force and will play well with Kidd. The problem I have with Marion is his contract; I would have much rather seen a three year deal for him than a five. However, signing him for that wasn't too realistic, and Mavs fans are going to have to live with the fact that in three years this team is probably going to have to bottom out. In the end, picking up Marion was a good deal for the Mavs.
I'm also back and forth on the Gortat signing. Gortat SCREAMS of the overrated big man who turned a coupla good performances into a contract. However...I like both what I saw in Gortat, and what I've read about him. Gortat played with fire and passion, and did a great job of consistantely taking the ball hard to the rim. He also talked shit against his coach about not being tough enough and displayed a similar sort of strength in the media.
Gortat could turn out to be another stiff, and again I would like this deal if it was for three years instead of five. That being said, I don't think this is Jerome James here; I think this is a fiery guy who will go out and play hard and pretty well every night. His talent might not be quite as good as his contract dictates, but I think the passion he'll bring will be just as important to the Mavs as his play. On top of that, the Mavs aren't asking him to do much; get a coupla dunks a game, have one or two good posts moves that you can use a coupla times a game, and rebound and guard the rim. That's about all the Mavs need him to do. After watching Dampier's uninspired and insipid play the last few years, I think Gortat will be a breath of fresh air and could become a fan favorite.
The one thing the Mavs are still lacking is the true perimeter swingman; the small forward who slashes to the basket and makes teams respect him taking it to the rim. That being said, the Mavs have improved immensenly this offseason. Their depth is greatly increased, and their overall talent has been greatly increased. On top of all that, I like the way the pieces fit. Throw in the fact that this is a contract year for Howard, and this could be a great season for the Mavs. I don't think they're quite on the Lakers or Spurs level, but they are much better than the Rockets or Jazz, and I do think that they are now better than the Nuggets and Blazers.
The Mavs have definitely gone all in, but I think that this was a smart way to go all in. It's going to be a very interesting season for them. Go Mavs!!!
Several more pieces need to play out: will Grant Hill go to the Celtics? Where will AI end up? Will the Blazers get Millsap? Will Amare or TMac get dealt? More to come, but we're starting to get a pretty good idea of how teams will look next season.
Remember kids...the NBA...it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!!!!!
Labels: NBA
posted by Michael Pondrom at 10:52 PM
8 Comments:
Its kinda funny that Dallas signed Gortat and Orlando signed Bass.
Indeed. Good signing by Orlando; they can have an undersized starting PF when you have DHoward and a 6'10" small forward. Plus Bass's midrange game will compliment Howard well. I hate to see him go, but I wish him the best of luck. He'll play more there than he would here.
Michael
Man...screw Orlando.
I don't see how signing Gortat really helps Orlando, short-term or long-term. Do you think Orlando is good enough to win it all? They lost their MVP and their best guy off the bench. Carter is now the only player on their team that is capable of driving to the basket and finishing...and he quit that long ago. I like the idea of surrounding Howard with shooters, but they will have no plan B.
I could not agree with you more Bo. I'd compare this to an example of needs v wants. You want a good bench and good forward play...but you need a guy capable of bringing the ball up the court, initiating the offense, and creating at least some dribble penetration. Hedo was there one and only guy for that, and now he's gone. This is now simply a live by the three, die by the three team.
I feel bad for botht the Mavs and Gortat; now we'll never know what he could have become. Stupid Magic.
Michael
And now Orlando is supposedly signing Matt Barnes. They are definely not scared of spending money.
Otis Smith, I want some FIN royalties since apparently you are just copying off of my blog.
Orlando is now unquestionably the most talented team in the NBA 1-12...and it won't matter because no one on that team is a distributor who can set other people up!
Michael
Let me guess, Otis Smith hired you under the condition that you quit blogging?
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