Judging the NBA's Offseason Winners and Losers

[Erick Blasco]

Though the start of the 2009-10 NBA season is still over two months away, the majority of league-shaping moves are finished, and the core of teams now will be the core of teams when the season gets underway in late October.

 

This means that now is as good a time as any to examine which teams improved themselves this offseason, and which teams will be hard-pressed to find success on the court when the balls start bouncing again.

 

Here are the six biggest winners and losers of the offseason.

 

 

Winners

Los Angeles Lakers

 

How often is it that a defending champion actually gets better? By essentially swapping Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest, the Lakers are better equipped to deal with the power wings that have occasionally troubled them in the past.

 

If Artest won’t pick up the fast break-inducing deflections and steals Ariza would, Artest is better equipped to play half court defense.

 

Offensively, Artest gives the Lakers another exceptional stand-still shooter, who is a bear in the post, and a powerful finisher at the hoop. In Artest, the Lakers now have some power to go along with their finesse.

 

Plus, the reports of Artest being a chuck-happy ball stopper in Houston are overblown. While Artest wasn’t the most efficient player, his mistakes were a product of faulty decision-making and an inability to shoot on the move, not because he was jacking up jumpers left and right. He’s simply a better player than Ariza, and his presence gives the Lakers a dynamism that will keep them from getting complacent.

 

The Lakers also improved in other areas by default. Andrew Bynum should be healthy and ready to regain the explosiveness that disappeared for last season’s playoff run. Adam Morrison should be able to contribute and perhaps jettison Sasha Vujacic down to the depths of the Lakers’ bench. Plus, Lamar Odom and his bag of tricks will be staying put.

 

All this assures that the Lakers wil be the team to beat next year.

 

Portland Trail Blazers

 

Most of Portland’s growth will come from within as their young roster adds a year of experience. The biggest reason for the jump they’ll make in 2009-10 comes from Andre Miller.

 

Miller’s wonderful court vision will allow the Blazers to steal several points they wouldn’t able to generate normally. Plus, he gives the Blazers another creator. For a team that, at times, had to rely too much on Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge for its points, Miller gives the Blazers more options.

 

Finally, as Miller’s specialty is in the open court, his presence will defibrillate an anemic Blazers fast break.

 

For a young team searching for experience, Miller will have a marked impact on the rapidly improving Blazers.

Washington Wizards

While they’re still strictly a first round team, the Wizards should bounce back from their nightmare 2008-09 campaign. They’ll return Gilbert Arenas’ considerable talents, considerable ego, and considerable flaws. Perhaps just as important, they’ll return Brendan Haywood. Without him, the Wizards were gashed defensively in the paint and on the boards, and had no scoring threat whatsoever near the basket.

 

They’ve also added some more scoring in Mike Miller and Randy Foye, and frontcourt depth with Fabricio Oberto. However, with a roster stacked with so many defensive duds, the Wizards will win in the regular season victory column, just not the playoff series victory column.

Toronto Raptors

 

The Raptors are shoring up their biggest weak spots from the past few seasons by adding more toughness. Rasho Nesterovic’ large body returns to eat up space, while Reggie Evans has never backed down from a rebounding scrum. Antoine Wright is a strong shooting guard, and Jarrett Jack is as tough a point guard as there is in the league.

 

With that influx of toughness, Toronto won’t be gashed on the boards and on the defensive end so easily, and they won’t be physically overmatched in so many matchups.

 

Hedo Turkoglu gives the Raptors a playmaker, Marco Belinelli gives them some firepower, and Andrea Bargnani is making some progress. The Raptors should make a return to the postseason.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers

 

With one season left on their LeBron James lease, the Cavaliers will try to win a title with easily their most talented team in the LeBron era.

 

Shaquille O’Neal still commands double teams in the post, though at the expensive of clogging up the paint.

 

Anthony Parker is the versatile and creative wing the Cavs haven’t had alongside LeBron since Larry Hughes left. But unlike Hughes, Parker’s a selfless winner.

 

Should O’Neal and LeBron mesh, should Mo Williams’ 2009 postseason be an aberration, and should Leon Powe return to health, the Cavs have as good a chance as any of capturing the title.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs feel as if they have a two-year window to try and capture the fifth title of the Tim Duncan era, and they’re going to try to jump through it headfirst.

 

Richard Jefferson not only gives the Spurs insurance for Manu Ginobili, but he’s the fourth scoring option the team has missed since Michael Finley began petrifying. With Jefferson on board, the Spurs have as talented a foursome as any team in the league.

 

Antonio McDyess is a more fluid Kurt Thomas, and a perfect fit in San Antonio. Theo Ratliff is running on fumes, but he’s big, strong, and rarely makes mistakes. And George Hill is a year older, and presumably, a year wiser.

 

The Spurs have established themselves right behind the Lakers in the West’s pecking order. But by the end of the year, the situation may be reversed.

 

 

Losers

 

 

New Jersey Nets

 

While the Nets made major strides this offseason to build their future—trading Vince Carter so Devin Harris and Brook Lopez take on more responsibility, slashing cap space and roster flexibility for the 2010-11 free agent class, acquiring the young, talented Courtney Lee—there’s no way the Nets will be competitive this upcoming season.

 

After Harris and Lopez, there is a lack of scoring punch throughout the roster. Losing Vince Carter means a loss of production that won’t be replaced. How long will it take before Rafer Alston realizes he went to to starting in the Finals, to being a backup on one of the worst teams in the league?

 

The saving grace is that New Jersey’s roster this time next year will be better than their roster this year.

Minnesota Timberwolves

 

With Randy Foye and Sebastian Telfair out, the Timberwolves may be even less athletic than last year’s unimpressive yawn fest.

 

Needing a spry shot blocker to make up for the athletic short comings of Kevin Love and Al Jefferson, the T-Wolves answered with Ryan Hollins, a limited backup.

 

Needing a creative perimeter scorer to take the pressure off of Jefferson, the Wolves traded for Quentin Richardson, a reputed shooter who has never shot above 38% from behind the arc in a season.

 

Needing a capable point guard, the Wolves acquired two rookies and Chucky Atkins.

 

Not only will the T-Wolves be bad, they’ll be unwatchable.

Houston Rockets

 

The loss of Yao Ming took the Rockets out of title contention. The departure of Ron Artest might take them out of the playoffs altogether.

 

Sure, the Rockets will still play inspired defense so long as gamers like Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes are on the roster. And in Carl Landry, Luis Scola, and Aaron Brooks, there is a slight hint of talent on the roster.

 

But where’s the game-changing post presence? The creative wing scorer? The playmaker and the play finisher?

 

Perhaps Tracy McGrady’s habitually fragile game will save the Rockets? Perhaps the tooth fairy exists.

 

Philadelphia 76ers

 

Andre Iguodala was their scorer, but make no mistake about it, Andre Miller was their offense. Whenever the Sixers point-output stalled, it was Miller who’d race up the court in transition and create something out of nothing. It was Miller who’d venture into the post, or pull up at the elbow putting his teammates on his back. It was Miller who’d create points simply by knowing where his teammates and their defenders were at all times.

 

Barring the revival of Elton Brand, there’s no chance of the Sixers replacing Miller’s smarts and his leadership.

 

Milwaukee Bucks

 

A victim of the economy, the Bucks talent has been hemorrhaged at the sake of cutting costs. Gone is their best all around player Richard Jefferson. Gone is their athletic scorer, Charlie Villanueva. Their talented young point guard Ramon Sessions might be out the door as well.

 

What have they gotten as replacements? A brash rookie, an over-the-hill veteran, and a stick figure, in Brandon Jennings, Kurt Thomas, and Hakim Warrick, respectively.

 

Oh and the team’s anchors are coming off of major injuries, a stress fracture in the back for Andrew Bogut, and ACL surgery for Michael Redd.

 

It’s going to be a long cold winter in Milwaukee.

 

Denver Nuggets

 

After a charmed 2008-2009 season that saw the Nuggets two wins away from a Finals appearance, the Nuggets have taken hits to their roster. Defensive specialist Dahntay Jones is now in Indiana, replaced by long, lean Arron Afflalo. While Afflalo has the makeup to be a good defensive player, Jones played with a belligerence that gave the Nuggets a swagger.

 

J.R. Smith may be allowed to start in Jones’ place, but with him in the starting lineup, Linas Kleiza in Greece, and Anthony Carter unsigned, three of the four players who gave the Nuggets an exceptionally potent bench (with Chris Andersen being the fourth) may either be elsewhere or in different roles.

 

The Lakers and Spurs have made major steps forward, while the Nuggets have taken small steps back.

 

 

 

 

 

I'd like to take this moment to point out that I've been talking with Brandon Hoffman (of Ballerblogger.com and Real GM) about contributing regularly to his site. However, one of the stipulations would be that my articles for ballerblogger would have to be exclusive, meaning I won't be able to post articles on OTR.

 

Of course this doesn't mean I won't be able to contribute to OTR or anything like that, just that I might not be able to post articles. I'll keep everyone informed as I get new information.

[Zolor23]

Celtics? Wallace only makes them better, Big Baby is back, KG is healthy, we made it to the second round without him...

[La Bomba]

Where would you put the Grizzlies with the addition of Hasheem Thabeet and Randolph?

[Zero]

Grizzlies aren't winners, Zach doesn't play defense and is going to a cancer and slow down the development of Gasol and Thabeet.

 

I agree, where are the Celtics? They added a starting quality wing to use on the bench and getting Rasheed, not to mention retaining Big Baby.

[kingfish]

Erick, u are a very very smart man.

[Legacy]

I'd like to take this moment to point out that I've been talking with Brandon Hoffman (of Ballerblogger.com and Real GM) about contributing regularly to his site. However, one of the stipulations would be that my articles for ballerblogger would have to be exclusive, meaning I won't be able to post articles on OTR.

 

Of course this doesn't mean I won't be able to contribute to OTR or anything like that, just that I might not be able to post articles. I'll keep everyone informed as I get new information.

Does this mean you can't be a writer on here anymore?

 

I got hired by FanHuddle and I think that I might have to do the same thing when the site opens up. Are you getting paid, Erick?

[Erick Blasco]

A few people have asked questions about the Celtics. One of their major strengths was frontcourt depth, so Rasheed Wallace won't make a major difference. They still lack a defensive stopper on the wing, they still don't have a backup point guard, and they still don't have a wing scorer off the bench. They're slightly improved, but not enough to make this list.

[Erick Blasco]

Where would you put the Grizzlies with the addition of Hasheem Thabeet and Randolph?

 

Who knows how good Thabeet will be. The Grizzlies are better in the sense that they have more talent. They'll win a few more games because of it, but there are bigger winners in the league than the Grizzlies.

[Cleveland's Finest]

Thank god someone else realizes the Cavs had the best offseason of the Big 3 in the East.

 

The Cavs added so many assets to this team. You hit the spot on mentioning Larry Hughes. Parker will do what Sasha Pavlovic was expected to do.

 

The Heat should be losers. With this being D-Wade's final year on the contract, the team did nothing to show championship contention. I don't care about the future. D-Wade's in his prime and they should've made a move to put them closer to the Big 3 in the East.

 

Good article.

[Erick Blasco]

Does this mean you can't be a writer on here anymore?

 

I got hired by FanHuddle and I think that I might have to do the same thing when the site opens up. Are you getting paid, Erick?

 

It means that if I write for any site other ballerblogger, I'll only be able to post article teasers linking back to the full article on BB, sort of like what happens when people link to news articles on OTR.

 

I won't be getting paid, but ballerblogger has a very good reputation around the net which could bring me more exposure as a writer. I also won't be able to post full length articles on Bleacherreport, either.

[Erick Blasco]

Thank god someone else realizes the Cavs had the best offseason of the Big 3 in the East.

 

The Cavs added so many assets to this team. You hit the spot on mentioning Larry Hughes. Parker will do what Sasha Pavlovic was expected to do.

 

The Heat should be losers. With this being D-Wade's final year on the contract, the team did nothing to show championship contention. I don't care about the future. D-Wade's in his prime and they should've made a move to put them closer to the Big 3 in the East.

 

Good article.

 

More adequately, the Heat did nothing...period.

[His Greatness]

Philadelphia 76ers

 

Andre Iguodala was their scorer, but make no mistake about it, Andre Miller was their offense. Whenever the Sixers point-output stalled, it was Miller who’d race up the court in transition and create something out of nothing. It was Miller who’d venture into the post, or pull up at the elbow putting his teammates on his back. It was Miller who’d create points simply by knowing where his teammates and their defenders were at all times.

 

Barring the revival of Elton Brand, there’s no chance of the Sixers replacing Miller’s smarts and his leadership.

I understand the disapproval, but hear me out here, Benedict Blasco: We were, and still are, financially handcuffed. Miller wasn't going to re-sign for a dime under his asking price. We take the deal, and this team is dipping into the luxury this season and the next. The organization would be obliged to pay the incurred tax if we were in contention, but as it stands, this team is at the midpoint between qualifying and rebuilding, and it would've stayed that way with or without Miller. I'm a bit miffed that we let him walk without compensation, but there wasn't much we could do.

That's how I rationalize it at least.

[Erick Blasco]

I understand the disapproval, but hear me out here, Benedict Blasco: We were, and still are, financially handcuffed. Miller wasn't going to re-sign for a dime under his asking price. We take the deal, and this team is dipping into the luxury this season and the next. The organization would be obliged to pay the incurred tax if we were in contention, but as it stands, this team is at the midpoint between qualifying and rebuilding, and it would've stayed that way with or without Miller. I'm a bit miffed that we let him walk without compensation, but there wasn't much we could do.

That's how I rationalize it at least.

 

I'm strictly talking in terms of their expected on court performance for next year. For example, I'm a huge proponent of New Jersey's dismantling. That team is ready to hit the ground running next year. Whether or not it was prudent for the Sixers to sign Miller, there's no way the Sixers are close to being the same team without him as they are with him (unless Elton Brand is dominant). Hence my labeling them as losers.

 

But then again...maybe Primoz Brezec has me fooled...

[Erick Blasco]

More adequately, the Heat did nothing...period.

 

I take that back. They're hosting season four of the Quentin Richardson All-Across-America tour. Why would I not be surprised if the Knicks reacquire him before the season starts?

[His Greatness]

I'm strictly talking in terms of their expected on court performance for next year. For example, I'm a huge proponent of New Jersey's dismantling. That team is ready to hit the ground running next year. Whether or not it was prudent for the Sixers to sign Miller, there's no way the Sixers are close to being the same team without him as they are with him (unless Elton Brand is dominant). Hence my labeling them as losers.

 

But then again...maybe Primoz Brezec has me fooled...

Yeah I understand, it's just that having your team called a loser in the offseason for making a fiscally responsible decision is a little off-putting. Semantics problem.

[BlueDevil]

I take that back. They're hosting season four of the Quentin Richardson All-Across-America tour. Why would I not be surprised if the Knicks reacquire him before the season starts?

LMAO can you imagine? that would be hillarious!

[Erick Blasco]

LMAO can you imagine? that would be hillarious!

 

I want to say something witty or funny, but I'm too busy laughing to myself at just how funny it would be.

[Erick Blasco]

Yeah I understand, it's just that having your team called a loser in the offseason for making a fiscally responsible decision is a little off-putting. Semantics problem.

 

Well they'll be losers on the court...

[Lone Wolf]

Minnesota Timberwolves

 

With Randy Foye and Sebastian Telfair out, the Timberwolves may be even less athletic than last year’s unimpressive yawn fest.

 

Needing a spry shot blocker to make up for the athletic short comings of Kevin Love and Al Jefferson, the T-Wolves answered with Ryan Hollins, a limited backup.

 

Needing a creative perimeter scorer to take the pressure off of Jefferson, the Wolves traded for Quentin Richardson, a reputed shooter who has never shot above 38% from behind the arc in a season.

 

Needing a capable point guard, the Wolves acquired two rookies and Chucky Atkins.

 

Not only will the T-Wolves be bad, they’ll be unwatchable.

 

Telfair and Foye never showed their athleticism. If anything, they tried too hard or not hard enough. They made so many stupid mistakes and both were way too inconsistent.

 

The Wolves got Rubio (hopefully he comes this year or next) and Flynn, as known as the best players available from the draft.

 

Little early on the article, aren't we?

 

Bad, eh? Unwatchable? No, I'll be watching.

 

I wouldn't call the Wolves losers, especially when Brewer and Jefferson should be back; they're not winners, either.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Lone Wolf