Write On Sports LLC - "NBA Offseason Review - Part 1" by Mark T.R. Donohue

NBA Offseason Review - Part 1

2006-09-21 01:07:59 | By: Mark T.R. Donohue

When the NBA instituted its salary cap a few seasons ago, the obvious intention was to restrict player movement as much as possible while giving teams every chance to compete. These best-laid plans could not have anticipated such extraordinary forces as the Kobe-Shaq feud, Vince Carter's ennui, Ron Artest's rap career, and Isiah Thomas's mammoth incompetence. The upshot of a salary system that heavily incentivizes players to stay with their original teams is that when player movement does occur in the NBA, there's always storylines galore attached. In some way whenever a player leaves a team, the player, the team, or both has been judged and found wanting.

Was Ben Wallace really not as integral to Detroit's success as we've all assumed? Does Peja Stojakovic really think that the Hornets are closer to a title than the Pacers? Will the groundless overrating of Shane Battier ever end? When the Lakers play the Clippers, will Vladimir Radmanovic remember which dressing room is his? Is giving Tim Thomas guaranteed money ever a good idea? Seriously, how low can the Knicks go? I don't promise you answers. I only promise an off-season trip around the league that's 100% Walton-free.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics
Innies: G Rajon Rondo (draft pick), F Leon Powe (draft pick), C Kevin Pittsnogle (undrafted FA), G Allen Ray (undrafted FA), G Sebastian Telfair (trade, Portland), C/F Theo Ratliff (trade, Portland), F Brian Grant (trade, Phoenix).
Outies: G Dan Dickau (trade, Portland), C/F Raef LaFrentz (trade, Portland), G Orien Greene (waived), C Michael Olowokandi (unsigned FA).

During last season there were no deals more head-scratching than the Celtics' flip of Ricky Davis to Minnesota for Wally Szczerbiak, and Boston's off-season moves continue the same aimless pattern. What exactly is the plan in Boston? With tons of rookies and the trade of the more polished Dickau for talented cipher Sebastian Telfair, a full-on rebuilding plan seems to be the order of the day. But Paul Pierce is still very much in a Boston uniform, with a new contract extension and one would imagine waning patience. Szczerbiak and Ratliff are nowhere near enough veteran support for Pierce to make this team a contender. Will Danny Ainge do the unthinkable and trade The Truth? At this point it's hard to imagine any other way for the C's to move ahead.

New Jersey Nets
Innies: G Marcus Williams (draft pick), F/C Josh Boone (draft pick), G Hassan Adams (draft pick), C Mile Ilic (Europe), G Eddie House (FA, Phoenix), C Mikki Moore (trade, Seattle).
Outies: G Jacque Vaughn (FA, San Antonio), F Scott Padgett (waived), F Zoran Planinic (waived), F Lamond Murray (unsigned FA).

The trouble with having three bona fide superstars on your team is it leaves little financial flexibility to improve anywhere else. Outside of dealing one of their holy trinity of Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, and Jason Kidd the Nets have done the best they can to keep the good times rolling with some high-ceiling draft picks. Between House and Williams the future Brooklyn Nets hope to take as much pressure off of Kidd for the regular season as possible. Unless 2005 draft pick Ilic, who played last year overseas, turns out to be an unlikely force in the middle, the Nets are stuck in limbo between lottery status and true championship contention. They just don't have enough bigs to muscle past the conference semifinals, though as long as Kidd has Carter and Jefferson to run with on the wings they'll be an entertaining team to watch.

New York Knicks
Innies: F Renaldo Balkman (draft pick), G Mardy Collins (draft pick), F Jared Jeffries (FA, Washington).
Outies: F Qyntel Woods (unsigned FA), G/F Ime Udoka (waived).

The conventional wisdom holds that the Knicks can't help but get better with Isiah Thomas in as coach and Larry Brown out, since Brown spent the entire season last year randomly juggling lineups in an effort to get either himself or Thomas fired. Wanna bet? Perhaps Brown was deliberately sabotaging his team, but it could be equally likely that there is simply no combination of players on the Knicks roster that could ever resemble a winning lineup. The number of pouting, ball-hungry, me-first, no-defense types on this roster simply boggles the imagination. John Wooden couldn't coax 40 wins out of the group of Steve Francis, Eddy Curry, Jalen Rose, Jamal Crawford, and Jerome James. It makes you feel for Stephon Marbury, who has raised his game and tried to do everything he can for this woeful Knicks team. What can he do? If he shoots all the time, which he should given these teammates, he'll get criticized; if he distributes, the team will only get worse and he'll be blamed. The only answer for the Knicks is to face facts and suck for four or five years until cap relief finally arrives. Under Thomas and James Dolan, that will never happen.

Philadelphia 76ers
Innies: F Rodney Carney (draft pick), G Bobby Jones (draft pick), C Edin Bavcic (draft pick), F/C Alan Henderson (FA, Cleveland), F Ivan McFarlin (undrafted FA).
Outies: G John Salmons (FA, Sacramento), F Michael Bradley (FA, Europe), F Matt Barnes (unsigned FA).

The big story of Philadelphia's off-season was what didn't happen. For a few moments it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Allen Iverson was going to be dealt. Billy King correctly assessed that Iverson's trade value wasn't going to immediately plunge if he didn't move him this summer, so for the moment, the Sixers return the same dysfunctional squad that accomplished so little last year. Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert are decent young pieces but it doesn't take a Hubie Brown to realize that a team that will start Kevin Ollie and use Kyle Korver as sixth man isn't bound for greatness. The 76ers are now reportedly in search of new ownership, which won't make the situation any more stable. A return to the postseason depends on continued development from Iguodala and another healthy season from Chris Webber, who honestly gave the 76ers more than they could reasonably have hoped for (75 games) in 2005-06. Whether or not The Answer finally moves on, things are going to get worse before they get better in Philadelphia.

Toronto Raptors
Innies: C Andrea Bargnani (draft pick), F P.J. Tucker (draft pick), F Uros Slokar (Europe), G Anthony Parker (undrafted FA), F Jorge Garbajosa (undrafted FA), G Fred Jones (FA, Indiana), G T.J. Ford (trade, Milwaukee), F Kris Humphries (trade, Utah), C Rasho Nesterovic (trade, San Antonio).
Outies: G Mike James (FA, Minnesota), C Loren Woods (FA, Sacramento), C Rafael Araujo (trade, Utah), F Matt Bonner (trade, San Antonio), F Charlie Villanueva (trade, Milwaukee), F Eric Williams (trade, San Antonio), G Andre Barrett (waived), G Alvin Williams (waived).

Bryan Colangelo took over as GM in Toronto with a clear idea of what needed to be done. Get rid of all of the guys who didn't want to be there, and do everything in his power to keep Chris Bosh from becoming one of those guys. So far, so good. Giving up Villanueva is a calculated risk, but if T.J. Ford is healthy, he can more than make up for the loss of James. On the whole the talent level of the group Colangelo has brought in is greater than that of the guys he's ushered out. Fred Jones is a good player, if a hothead. Nesterovic will fit in better with Toronto's intended up-tempo style than he did with San Antonio's half-court offense, but where he'll really help is on the defensive end. Colangelo may live to regret taking Bargnani with the #1 overall pick. Skinny Euro seven-footers who like to shoot three-pointers have a less than fabulous track record in the NBA. Sure, there's Dirk Nowitkzi and...well, there's Dirk Nowitzki. But there are people in the world who have been struck by lightning twice. I would feel much better about the Raptors' playoff chances if they had LaMarcus Aldridge to pair with Bosh on the front line. But on the plus side, they are phasing out the purple uniforms.

The rest of the Eastern Conference coming in Part 2.