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Since personnel moves have now slowed to a trickle in The Association, it seems like a good time to look at the winners and losers this offseason -- the "bulls" and "bears" of the NBA's very own stock exchange.
While there are a few key contributors left on the open market, most of the league's general managers have mapped out their strategy for the 2009-10 season and built the foundation for their respective teams.
Typically, contenders try to tweak a few things here the there, while the pretenders cry salary cap constraints, and make plans to take a few steps backwards in hopes of landing the ultimate prize in the draft.
This summer, things have been a bit different.
With their eyes on the prize and the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, some of the league's thoroughbreds pulled off blockbusters, while the have-nots used the now-cliched economy excuse to explain their inaction.
Here's my view on the five teams that improved the most (the bulls, not the Chicago variety), and five more that are headed in the wrong direction (the bears):
THE BULLS:
LOS ANGELES LAKERS:The NBA is a lot like the real stock exchange. The rich get richer. The world champs were able to keep the gifted Lamar Odom and, in essence, exchanged Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest in free agency. Ariza was the Lakers' most underrated player and a true team guy but is nowhere near as talented as volatile Artest. If Artest is able to keep his nose clean and accepts his role, the Lakers will be a heavy favorite to repeat. Imagine Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Odom and Artest on the floor together.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS:
I was ready to write off the Spurs as an aging team that lacked depth. Well, they are still aging but were able to add an athletic wing player in Richard Jefferson and impressive depth in the frontcourt by inking veteran big men Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff. That, along with a healthy Manu Ginobili, probably makes San Antonio the top alternative to the Lakers out West.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS:
A surprise considering the team wanted Hedo Turkoglu and Paul Millsap but got neither. That said, the Blazers were probably the deepest team in the NBA last season. They were just too young and lacked a legitimate point guard to make a real run in the playoffs. A small taste of postseason basketball only helped the team's young stars, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, and Portland was able to add a true point guard in free agency, signing veteran Andre Miller for a song and dance. The 33-year-old Miller isn't the best perimeter defender and lacks a three-point shot, but he's still one of the league's top 10 quarterbacks. With Aldridge, Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla, the Blazers have more than enough big bodies to erase Miller's defensive mistakes, and he won't be called on to score in Portland like he was in Philadelphia.
BOSTON CELTICS:
The C's would have been a legitimate threat to repeat last season if Kevin Garnett's knee held up, so don't fall asleep on this team. Garnett should be back at 100 percent and the club added another playoff-tested, extremely skilled big man in Rasheed Wallace. Boston is also expected to complete a sign-and-trade with Indiana for Marquis Daniels, adding depth to what was a very thin team last year.
TORONTO RAPTORS:
The Raptors may have been the biggest disappointment in the NBA last season. A very talented team on paper didn't make the playoffs because of deficiencies on the defensive end and a lack of toughness on the glass. Somehow, Toronto convinced Turkoglu to spurn Portland and head north of the border, giving them one of the leagues's most underrated players. The Raptors also added the extremely athletic DeMar DeRozan in the draft, a defensive-minded backcourt player in Jarrett Jack and one of the game's toughest and energetic, albeit unskilled, players in Reggie Evans.
THE BEARS:
HOUSTON ROCKETS:It's not really Daryl Morey's fault, but losing All-Star center Yao Ming to a career-threatening foot injury is too tough to overcome. Meanwhile, Artest bolted for Hollywood and Tracy McGrady is a broken down shell of his former self. Ariza was a nice pickup but he doesn't have the offensive skills to be a difference maker.
DETROIT PISTONS:
Joe Dumars just might have a little Jerry Krause in him. The Hall of Famer was intent on remaking a team that probably had another two or three years as a contender in the East if he just left them alone. Swapping Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson was a disaster on the court but opened up significant salary cap space for Dumars to wheel and deal. He added a pair of former UConn stars in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva along with Chris Wilcox and brought in John Kuester to coach them. That's not exactly scaring the big boys in the East.
ORLANDO MAGIC:
Letting the unselfish Turkoglu walk and replacing him with Vince Carter has disaster written all over it. Carter will put up numbers on the offensive side but doesn't have the floor game to make others better, a staple of Turkoglu's stay in central Florida.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS:
The Sixers let Miller walk and got nothing in return. To make matters worse, the team plans to hand over the keys to Lou Williams, a shoot-first "point guard" that is as careless as it gets with the basketball. New coach Eddie Jordan is trying to point to his "success" in Washington when he had no real point (Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes were in the backcourt). Andre Iguodala can certainly play the Hughes role but Arenas was a real top-tier player at that point and expecting the erratic Williams to play at a similar level is folly.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS:
When we last saw the Cavs, "The King" was brooding over the team's inability to handle Orlando's perimeter shooting. Revisionist history now says Cleveland couldn't match up with Dwight Howard but "Superman the Sequel" could have scored 30 a night and pulled down 20 boards and the Cavs would have still won the series if they only could have run Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and company off the three-point line. So, Danny Ferry brings in the original "Man of Steel" in the aging Shaquille O'Neal? Shaq will just clog up things for LeBron James on the offensive end and make things more difficult for Cleveland on the perimeter. Of course, the Cavs will still win 60-plus games but expect another flameout somewhere along the line in the postseason.
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