Saturday, July 11, 2009

The rich getting richer: The offseason thus far

Only a few weeks following the draft many of the major offseason moves have already fallen into place. Although the 2010 offseason will likely decide the fate of the league for the next decade, their is still a championship to be won next June. The theme of this summer seems to be that the teams that were almost good enough to win it this year are going all out for what could be their last chance. Several trades have solidified what appear to be this year's uber-contenders:

Vince Carter to Magic: Essentially, the Magic have replace Hedo with Vince Carter...not a bad tradeoff. The Eastern Conference champions will have a ridiculous starting 5, one of the most accomplished seen in a long time, and also made a big move in signing Brandon Bass, a undersized but rugged power forward who can give a different look coming off the bench behind Rashard Lewis. They still seem to be lacking some depth, especially after dealing Courtney Lee, but they are without a doubt one of the favorites

Shaquille O'Neal to Cavs: The Cavs are getting what they need, a big body in the post to defend Dwight Howard and rebound with intensity. That was not "the Big Z". Currently, the Cavs are also looking to add a SG, and Anthony Parker is a name being thrown around. They will be back strong next year, but still need more consistent perimeter scoring.

Shawn Marion to Mavs: The Mavs add yet another talented piece in acquiring "The Matrix". The Mavs have never lacked talent though. It will be interesting to see how Josh Howard and Marion play together. Will they have to share time or will one of them be traded. The Mavs have also re-signed Jason Kidd, so they definitely want to win now, but their window is closing fast. However, they did sign a legitimate post player in Marcin Gortat, filling a huge need...but he seems to do a lot of the same things as the now departed Brandon Bass. If their star players (Terry, Kidd, Marion, Howard, Nowitzki) mesh well and play defense, they can be the best team in the West...but that is a big if

Richard Jefferson to Spurs: Although Jefferson's contract is a burden, they knew their big 3 wasn't enough to put them over the top. So the Spurs traded spare parts and Bruce Bowen for a guy who has consistently averaged 15 to 20 points a game for the last 5 years. The addition of Antonio McDyess and rookie DeJuan Blair should help to fill the gaps left by the trade, and barring injury, the Spurs will challenge for the title.

These 4 trades have just made a plateau between teams that were in contention and teams that made the playoffs but never really had a shot (the Jazz, the Hawks, the Sixers....etc.) While it is debatable, if Gilbert Arenas is fully healthy, the Wizards trade for Randy Foye and Mike Miller could be added to that group. You don't give up the 5th pick unless you believe you can win now...

Also, 2 other teams have solidified in their spots in championship contention through free agency...

Ron Artest to Lakers: While this signing leaves Lamar Odom's future somewhat questionable, getting Ron Ron to replace Trevor Ariza is an excellent move. Ron is still a world class defender, and can hit jump shots when needed. The only worry is that he can get a little shot-happy at times, but the Rockets actually needed his offense, so I don't see that being a big problem

Rasheed Wallace to Celtics: I don't really love this move. I guess Rasheed is a good backup to Perkins and Garnett, but he doesn't rebound very much, so I would rather have kept both Leon Powe and Glen Davis...but now one will probably end up leaving. Nonetheless, the Celtics signing a veteran like Sheed shows their commitment to winning now, and means that they make other moves to back up this idea

Other than that here are the other moves not made by the 6 super-contenders:

Houston signs Trevor Ariza: With the potential of Yao being out for all of next season, the Rockets decided to let Artest go and get younger with Ariza. Now, with T-Mac coming off the books after this year, they have put themselves in solid position to nab a big name in the summer of 2010

Detroit signs Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva: Both of these guys are solid starters, but this team can't compete for a title with this roster...they need a dominant big man. They can definitely make the playoffs though. With McDyess leaving for SA, the Pistons still have room for 1 or 2 more players. Trading away Rip Hamilton might be in the works as we speak too

Toronto acquires Hedo Turkoglu: Portland wanted Hedo, but ultimately he choose the more metropolitan city, Toronto. The Raptors still have some cap room to play with, and they need a center, in a big way. With DeMar DeRozan filling a big hole, this team could surprise a few people this year.

Minnesota acquires Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov and the 5th draft pick: Everybody knows that with the 5th and 6th picks GM David Kahn selected two pass first PG's, Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio, what seems to be the ultimate bonehead move. Maybe Rubio not playing here for a couple of year was all a part of Kahn's master plan. The idea is that by the time Flynn's rookie contract runs out, Rubio comes back to the US ( while still being only in his younger 20's) and takes over at the PG spot. Or maybe Kahn is just a huge idiot

Washington acquires Mike Miller and Randy Foye: While both of these guys are solid players, where do you fit in an aging shooter (Miller) and an undersized shoot first point guard (Foye) to your core of an eccentric injury prone superstar (Arenas), two potentially solid guards (Nick Young and Jarvaris Crittenton) and a guy who can't feel his face (DeShawn Stevenson). As if things weren't already tough enough in the nation's capital...