Off-Season Movers and Shakers

With the Finals all but a distant memory, we enter one of the more interesting and exciting times for both NBA teams and fans - the off-season: where aged teams look to rebuild, where teams on the cusp look to enter the title conversation, and where faithful fanatics get another shot at hope for their team's future.

That is the norm for NBA off-seasons and this one has yet to disappoint. Memorable faces in new places is the name of the game. Most notably, the "Big Diesel" (or the big cactus or the big Aristotle or whatever he's known as today), Half-Man-Half-Amazing also known as Vince Carter, the former Buck and Net Richard Jefferson along with guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller who spent their 09-10 season in the frozen tundra of Minnesota.

In this post, I'll be writing about how each of the teams fared in their respective trades; who the winners and losers were, and what impact this could potentially have on their ball clubs.

Firstly, let's start out with the biggest name and the biggest player - Shaquille O'Neal. The Phoenix Suns sent him to Cleveland for Ben Wallace's expiring contract, Sasha Pavlovic and a 2010 2nd round draft pick. In other words, Cleveland got him for practically nothing. O'Neal will be joining yet another superstar-caliber swingman in LeBron James (keep in mind that in every stop of his NBA career, Shaq has had the privilege of playing with an elite guard - in Orlando, it was Penny. In Los Angeles, it was Kobe. In Miami, it was Wade and in Phoenix, it was Nash). The two of them will cause a lot of problems for opposing teams but is this really the move that elevates the Cavs to the undisputed favorites to win the championship? I happen to think not. Cleveland was already a 66-win team last season and the best regular season squad in the NBA. Had they not run into Dwight Howard and the mis-match Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, they may very well have won the title. Unfortunately for them, the Magic played (to a lesser extent) the role of the Golden State Warriors to that of the Dallas Mavericks - a horrible match-up that proved to be their demise. In my not-so-expert opinion, I don't feel this move does anything to help them against Orlando with the exception of making life just a little tougher against Dwight. The Cavs' weakness in their series with the Magic was the pick-and-roll and as we all know, Shaq is notorious for his inability to defend it. His defense is on par with that of Big Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas), though his post offense is obviously head-and-shoulders better. However, with Shaq, you lose the pick and pop option that LeBron had with Zydrunas, considering Ilgauskas is going to be getting significantly less minutes. Overall, I'm not a big fan of the trade if Cleveland's sole purpose was better matching up with Orlando. If the goal was to simply improve the team, then mission accomplished.

For Phoenix, it's apparently time to start over. They got rid of Shaq for pennies on the dollar and they are shopping Amar'e Stoudemire and Steve Nash. This move seemed inevitable. I honestly am not sure what Sarver and Kerr are doing but I'm sure the rest of the league is more than happy to let them keep doing it.

The next trade, as outlined in the opening of this blog post, is some Magic in Disney World. The New Jersey Nets shipped star guard Vince Carter and forward Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for guards Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and center Tony Battie.

I actually like this trade for both teams. New Jersey is clearly in rebuilding mode. Carter and his contract were only standing in the way of the youth movement happening in Jersey. In this deal, they get some cap-space and a talented, young swing-man in Courtney Lee who showed what he was made of in the CLE/ORL series this past playoffs (picture Lee slamming down some thunderous dunks on the LeBron James). He's already a solid offensive player and his defense is above-average, especially for a rookie. There may have been better deals on the table if the Nets waited a bit more but I think this one suits them just fine.

For Orlando, it's just another piece to the puzzle. Anyone who watched them in the Finals could see that they are in need of a star shooting guard who can carry the load on the perimeter (and slashing) and give Dwight some help from time to time. Carter to the Magic automatically make them one of the select few favorites to win the title next year, though losing Turkoglu does hurt, considering his versatility allowed them to run a big lineup with him as point guard.

Also in the news are the San Antonio Spurs - the model of an elite professional sports organization. The Spurs traded defensive stopper Bruce Bowen and centers Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for star forward Richard Jefferson.

It's a good move for the Spurs, don't get me wrong. But I do have reservations about how San Antonio management perceives Jefferson's ability. In data-tracking throughout the years, he's never notched a very high on/off differential nor has he amassed a particularly high PER (Player Efficiency Rating). Statistics can be deceiving every now and then but I'm a bit skeptical about his production. He seems like one of those players who has a knack for filling up the box-score without having a distinctly positive impact for his team.

This could all change in San Antonio, though. The Spurs have an immense amount of talent, a dominant low-post scorer, slashing threats and outside threats. By all means, the court will have opened up a substantial amount when Jefferson comes to town. He'll most likely be able to put up the numbers AND have a solid impact thanks, in large part, to his All-Star teammates. Understanding that the Spurs basically got him for nothing, it's hard to knock this trade for them. It's a nice move and classic Spurs.

For Milwaukee, this trade comes as no surprise. Their management has consistently been some of the worst in professional sports (notice the dichotomy here, heh). They handed a ridiculous contract to a one-dimensional, no-defense guard in Michael Redd and have failed to build a contending team in Wisconsin for as long as I can remember. Is it possible that Bucks' management is going to start all over and build from scratch (including selling low on Redd)? Possibly. If I were them, I'd consider that the only conceivable move, but knowing Milwaukee, they'll see another option.

Lastly, but certainly not least(ly?), we have the Wizards and Timberwolves who struck a deal just before the 2009 NBA Draft. Minnesota dealt third-year guard Randy Foye and sharp-shooter Mike Miller to the Washington Wizards for the Zards' 5th pick (which turned out to be Ricky Rubio), centers Etan Thomas and Oleksiy Pecherov and veteran forward Darius Songaila.

As a die-hard Wizards fan, this move is not earth-shattering but solid enough to make us easily the 4th-best team in the East (possibly better, but not likely). It will, health permitting, yield 50 wins and a 2nd-round playoff birth. But it fails to address one pressing need - defense. Neither Foye nor Miller are noted defenders and both will be major parts of our rotation. Unless this deal is proceeded by another move that could net us a more defensive-oriented roster, I can't say I'm all that impressed. Arenas/Miller/Butler/Jamison/Haywood is one of the worst defensive lineups in the NBA (save for Haywood) and unless Flip Saunders and company is a miracle-worker on the defensive end of the floor, this team will score 105pts and give up nearly the same amount. Then there's the salary issue. We acquired two players who will need to be re-upped next season. Will we have the money to do so? Will Honest Abe Pollin be willing to shell out luxury tax dollars to keep a 50-win team intact? Will keeping them cost us a much more valuable player like Brendan Haywood who is ready for a new contract at the same time? Only time will tell but there had better be a fool-proof plan in place or else this will come back to bite us in the butt.

Switching gears, Minnesota made a pretty good trade. With the 5th pick, they selected the Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio (a player with top-2 talent). Rubio will not be able to play for one, maybe two years but Minnesota is in a very rare position - one where they can afford to wait for the kid to come over. Most teams are busy building for a playoff run or trying to contend that they simply do not have the option of waiting for a top-5 pick to fall into their laps. Also in this trade, the T-Wolves acquired Etan Thomas (expiring contract) Oleksiy Pecherov (expiring contract) and Darius Songaila (savvy veteran who will be a valuable addition to a team full of young, inexperienced players).

Up to this point, this NBA off-season has been one of the more memorable and thrilling ones to date. Big-name players didn't just get rumored to leave town, they actually packed their bags and hopped on the plane! Will the Cavs get that final push to the title and keep their super-star, LeBron James? Can the Magic establish themselves as more than a one-hit-wonder? Are the Wizards going to be the surprise team of the season and take their place among the East's elite? These, and many more questions, will be answered in the year to come. But hey - the off-season isn't over yet....