The Good, Bad and Ugly: the 2010 offseason
by Nitroberg on Jul 21, 2010 11:08 PM CDT
Email
PrintI know that there's still a ton more left in the offseason, and teams will definitely attempt to make more trades to move parts/pieces around (wouldn't it be funny if New York picked up Gilbert Arenas?). Anyways, I digress. This offseason has seen the most vicious traitorism since Brett Favre switched to Minnesota Viking purple with LeBron's "Decision". Here's how the rest of it all played out.
The Good:
Miami would stand out as the top team here, landing the greatest collection of talent this side of anything we could dream up on NBA 2K10. Throw in Mike Miller, and you've got your lethal 3-point threat. They even managed to get a couple of decent big men (if this were 2005) who in 2010 are nothing more than space-eaters who will help this veteran team out. They still need someone to play the point guard position but when you've got LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on your team, you only need to find a good knock-down shooter who can play decent defense.
I hate to put them here too, but Utah made some good moves too. Al Jefferson is a tad more athletic than Carlos Boozer ever was, and he should do well with Deron Williams and company. Raja Bell's a good signing too, as he should provide a defensive stopper who can spot his 3's pretty well.
My third team in this "good" category would have to be the Bulls in Chicago. They went 0 for 3 with the big names, but got Boozer to man the post and grabbed Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver to help Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah out. They're a better team too with Tom Thibeadux as the new coach, a guy who know's his X's and O's, and will do wonders with the team who will end up losing to Miami in the East Semis next year.
The Bad:
Memphis AND Atlanta really screwed up here. You have Marc Gasol, OJ Mayo and Zach Randolph all on your team, yet you break the bank to keep Rudy Gay for 5 years/85 million? Geez, that's just fiscal irresponsibility on your part there. Gay's got talent, but he's a one-dimensional scorer who does nothing else of merit. Then you look to the Hawks, who basically outbid themselves to keep a guy who's more of a #1B or #2 guy and will pay him over 120 million for the next 6 years.
The guys who lost their superstars, Cleveland and Toronto, get lumped together here...and to an extent I'll throw in the Phoenix Suns too. Their clubs are clearly worse off next season. Cleveland has gone from the penthouse to the near outhouse in the league, and Toronto should challenge Minnesota for the league's worst record next year. The Suns losing Amare is painful to watch, and so will watching Hakim Warrick play PF on that club. Robin Lopez looks promising though.
Bad news comes for Golden State, as they've watched their two newest big men go down with injuries (Epke Udoh and David Lee). Shame shame guys. Some teams just never really catch a break.
The Ugly:
This first one goes out to the free agent losers: New York, New Jersey, and the LA Clippers...come on down. Only one of the top 6 free agents signed on to these guys (Amare in New York). You not only blew your opportunity at landing a star when your wallets were itching to spend, you literally were left with scraps. Jersey got sorta screwed when they lost John Wall and were stuck with Derek Favors, and while Travis Outlaw is a nice consolation prize, he's not what the masses envisioned next year. However, the worst of it has to be watching the Clippers CONTINUE to be...well, the Clippers as they've not done much of anything really.
Dan Gilbert also got a bit ugly, but I'll add everyone's favorite spoiled child to this page too. LeBron James has tarnished his individual legacy. If he's looking at being "the man," then he's basically ruined that in his career by bolting for South Beach. However, Gilbert basically catered to his every whim and demand. James and Gilbert lost a lot of public respect with their ongoing public feud.
Finally, what in the world is Minnesota doing these days? You would rather keep Donnie Darko Millicic over Jefferson? I'm just glad there are idiots like David Khan out there who Daryl Morey can continue to swindle on a nightly basis.
And what about us?
We all wanted the big splash. Admit it. We wanted Bosh, we wanted Big Al. We still want to get one of the premier SF's out there (Granger or Iggy), but considering we took Patrick Patterson at #14 and nabbed Brad Miller for a 3year/15million contract while keeping Scola and Lowry at market value, we've done quite well.
What do you guys all think about the 2010 Free Agency Bonanza?
No cursing in title. No pirated material, such as links to online game streams. Do not cut/paste entire sections of content from other websites. Thanks.
36 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
random thoughts
There were some BIG losers as you pointed out (Minnesota, the teams with cap space that failed to get one of the big three). NY got Amare but lost their own big guy. I predict they will continue to suck. NJ failed on an epic scale and I think they locked down some bad contracts and their draft pick Evans didn’t do too well in summer league.
Utah about pulled even losing Boozer but getting an early Christmas gift from Kahn.
The new powerhouses will be:
Chicago. They were only missing a guy inside who could score and rebound. That piece is Boozer. Chicago will be ridiculous.
Miami. Obviously, they are the favorites to pull it out.
The big theme of this offseason I believe is that the balance of power shifted to the east with Amare and Boozer leaving and another superteam emerging to compete with the Celtics and the Magic. HUGE. Also, the western powers (Dallas, SA, LA, Denver) did nothing substantial to improve. This means there is an opening for a shake-up in the Western Conference rankings probably with the exception of LA who will still be in one of the top spots. Additionally, next year the Eastern Conference teams will be highly motivated to poach a Western Conference star like Carmelo, further opening up the conference.
Sacramento is a team to watch. Cousins seems to be awesome and the inside / outside punch with him and Tyreke Evans will be a great cornerstone for them.
_
I think Cleveland should trade for Arenas. Honestly, he’s a good guy who made a huge mistake and he can really play and that is something Cleveland doesn’t have now.
__
Rockets – I didn’t know that Granger was available. That would be incredible if we got him. We’ve loaded up a lot of assets. It could be possible.
by ClutchFanSince94 on Jul 22, 2010 12:04 AM CDT reply actions
I still think the balance of power is in favour of the west
Miami and Chicago got stronger but as a whole the western conference teams are better, there is LA, Houston, OKC, Denver, Dallas, Utah, Portland, SA (who got better by signing Splitter), NO (with Chris Paul), even Pheonix w/Nash. All these teams could easily make the playoffs in the East, there are going to be teams there that make the playoffs with a .500 record, you can take that to the bank.
There's more depth out west, but I think 3 of the top 4 teams are still out east
LA’s #1, but Orlando, Boston and Miami are battling for #’s 2-4. Chicago, OK City, Portland, Dallas, Houston, Denver, San Antonio, Utah and Phoenix are the next tier. The West teams after LA are all really close to each other rank wise.
B^2
"Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that."
Stewie Griffin-Family Guy
The records in the East are inflated
I think LA is no.1, but I also think that in the playoffs, the Rockets, OK City, Portland, and Dallas could really cause a lot of trouble if they play Orlando, Boston, or Miami, and very possibly could beat them. I don’t look at the regular season record because the East is top heavy but they play against more inferior teams 4 times as opposed to us in the West playing Eastern teams twice. I think due to the fact that Western conference teams play against better quality teams more often, that they would be ready to play and be able to compete with Orlando, Boston, Miami.
That's right
Because there’s 8-10 solid teams out west whereas only about 4-6 out east. So the West is like the “Big East” and the East is the “Pac-10” (basketball speaking)…be glad, because I almost called the East Conference USA.
B^2
"Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that."
Stewie Griffin-Family Guy
I wouldnt be surprised if
New Orleans, Indiana, and Houston were involved in a 3 way deal. NO and HOU have pg’s and Indy really needs one. NO wants expiring deals and HOU and IND have some. We want a bonafied star and IND and NO have one a piece. I’m guessing the center pieces of the deal would be AB, Darren Collison, Granger, and Paul (all of which will be followed by fillers.)
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
maybe something like this
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2d3t26r I know there will be some revising and editing to this but it could be the framework. Of course we will throw in draft picks and trade exceptions etc… but you get the point.
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
Seems like Indiana would insist on getting Paul over Brooks.
Wreck 'em Tech! Go Rockets!
by Rock Creator on Jul 22, 2010 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions
i was doing something like this but i like yours a lot we dont even have to lose battier and thats great!
And then
we look at our roster after an injury and suit up 4 guys wondering what the f*ck happened. Don’t. Deplete. The. Roster.
I'm always right, this isn't conjecture, merely statement of fact.
It's been very boring man
what else can we do but play with the trade machine?
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
Not post lopsided horrible ideas?
Seriously, I’m doing law reading and playing God of War I, II, and III to pass time. Rather than throw out ideas that make us look like idiots (A bad reflection on the fanbase in general) why not just pick up a hobby?
I'm always right, this isn't conjecture, merely statement of fact.
Blogging is a hobby
especially for me since I all I do is eat, sleep, and dream about the Rockets
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
I'm thinking of starting a blog
when I move to DC. Though my hobbies are primarily writing music/playing bass, basketball, video games, and whackin’ it.
I'm always right, this isn't conjecture, merely statement of fact.
The Good
You forgot OKC signing Durrant to an extension.
"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." Vince Lombardi
That was very good for OKC
Not so much for the poor people of Seattle.
The player I would like least at #9 would be my sister’s cat, Captain Creamsicle. She does have a great work ethic and agility, but I’m really concerned that at 9 lbs., she’s too small to play safety in the NFL. She also bites way too often on play action and is easily distracted by someone waving string in the crowd. Lastly, her wonderlic score was pretty awful, answering "meow meow meow" for most of the questions- Dr. Brackish Okun
CHRIS PAUL
can we trade for both granger and chris paul, of course that would be loosing ariza, battier, brooks, knicks picks, hill?
I think any trade for Paul has to include Okafor, and when we signed Miller it really hurt our ability to take him on. In addition, I don’t think we match up well with NO for a trade. We have the expirings, but our best trade chip is probably Aaron Brooks, and PG is probably the one position NO doesn’t need young talent in.
by seanbergmanrules on Jul 22, 2010 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions
but we get granger
and still have scola, yao, bud, martin etc….
remember that granger and martin will see 35 mins. plus
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
i was thinking we give the expirings and ariza along with picks to NO for paul, it works out salary-wise, and indiana was really interested in lowry so we can give them even better AB along with fillers and hill for granger,. I think that would put us on the top and we would have the greatest chance in the league to win a championship.
I think realistically
We can only get one of those guys, but then again realistically, I want to give the current team a chance before we radically revamping
say batman no bs what you think about this one and anyone else?
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2ft76k3
new orleans has some trade exceptions to give philly or we can give them a ny pick.
my honest opinion
it makes no sense for anyone.
1) Philly wants more that that for Iggy
2)NO has no need for Iggy and they would want a young talent for Iggy
3)Why would Indy want Paul if they send us Granger?
4)We have to come up with much more than this to get Granger
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
I'm with you batman
Great trade thought southpaw, very creative, but a straight-up salary dump is not necessarily what Philly wants for its top player. Peja would play well off Evan Turner though, as Turner looks more creater/slasher for these guys and Iggy’s not the best shooter in the world.
New Orleans will have to come back with Brooks to give Paul up, thus CP3 would have to end up in Houston with Granger, and you can pretty much say goodbye to Hill, Ariza, Budinger, Patterson, etc. Well not all of them, just some.
I like our guys as is, but a superteam with Chris Paul, Kevin Martin, Danny Granger, Luis Scola and Yao Ming would definitely beat Miami’s “Southbeach Trio”.
B^2
"Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that."
Stewie Griffin-Family Guy
exactly
I really think IND,HOU, and NO could all help each other out. We give them our young assets, expirings, and draft picks and they give us their alpha dogs. It only makes sense.
GO ROCKETS, GO TEXANS, GO ASTROS (EVEN THOUGH THEY SUCK)!!!
Good try
but there is no way we can get a player like Granger by just giving up 2 expiring contracts, unless we’re dealing with Minnesota.
Personally I would love package a kmart trade to Philly for Iguodala. If something like that could be worked out, I think the Rockets would greatly benefit from having a good playmaker handle the ball, also freeing Brooks from his ballhandling duties.
"Hip-Thrust!"
I wouldn't put NJ in the "Ugly" column
for two reasons:
1. The coaching staff got infinitely better this offseason. Avery Johnson and Sam Mitchell >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a guy who has never coached and didn’t want to ever coach an NBA team and ended up having to do so for a whole season (Kiki). I wouldn’t underestimate what this will do for the team.
2. The Nets are set in every way to become the Thunder East. Now, Brook Lopez =/= Kevin Durant, but I think that it’s very possible he becomes something of a Dwight Howard with offensive and defensive prowess reversed. There are a lot of promising young pieces (Williams, Lee, Morrow, Favors, James, Farmar) and a former All-Star point guard who can and will probably get back to that level (Harris). Granted, Outlaw is a bit overpaid, but frankly the Russian doesn’t mind and New Jersey is just over the minimum allowable league salary. Plus, Outlaw will fit in their system well as an athletic 3 and stretch 4.
Maybe this is the New Jersey native/Nets fan in me speaking, but they really have nowhere to go but up.
I like their talent in Jersey, they're definitey going to win more than 12 games next year...
But New Jersey treated this free agency like Home Run Derby. A line drive looks nice (Outlaw), and so does that up-the-middle hit (Favors), but they wanted to hit a Home Run (LeBron and John Wall). So basically two hits that would be good in a regular moment are diminished because of how much they put into this.
Likewise with New York. They gutted their roster for 2 consecutive seasons just to land LeBron and/or Wade. And yet, they only got Amare.
B^2
"Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that."
Stewie Griffin-Family Guy
As a team
when you go into the offseason with your first five options all “GET LEBRON”, and you don’t, that’s a disaster in itself. Since cap space doesn’t help win any games, they go out and sign Outlaw, Farmar, Morrow and Johan Petro. Besides Morrow, the other three have never started regularly for their teams, and its not for a lack of opportunity either.
Paying Outlaw 35million for 5 years alone should put the Nets in the ugly, since its unlikely another team was willing to hand over that much cash for a guy going into his 8th season with career averages of 9points and 3rebounds.
Farmar and Morrow should help the Nets with their reasonable price tags, but with all the team has sacrificed for 2010 cap space (horrible season record) this offseason was a disaster for them.
"Hip-Thrust!"
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Dream Shake
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- The Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers? Gone till November
- The Jamaican national team reminds me that it has multiple NBA players
- Create-a-Caption: ‘Hey! Hey, I like your name!’
- A closer look at a big night for Brandon Bass, who ate well because Rajon Rondo kept feeding him
- Kevin Garnett takes a little shot at Philadelphia’s ‘fair-weather fans.’ His words, not ours (VIDEO)
