Phoenix Suns –
Lost: Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson (I am assuming the trade goes through)
Acquired: Kurt Thomas- center?, 2 lottery protected 1st round picks that can’t be used until the Atlanta Hawks make the playoffs (2009? 2011?), and some guy named Boris Diaw.
Unbelievable. We commented on this team on the blog, and we were all skeptical about Phoenix doing well this year. They’ve lost all of their depth. At least they still have Nash, Amare, and Shawn Marion. It’s unreal how last season, they had the best off-season with getting Nash and Quentin Richardson, and this season, they just sucked.
Conspiracy Theory: IF the Joe Johnson trade does not go through, I will be thoroughly convinced that Phoenix just paid like $5 million to the Atlanta owner who refuses to agree to the trade. If the trade doesn’t go through, suddenly, Phoenix gets Joe Johnson at a discounted rate, because no other teams even have the cap space to give him a max deal!
Team Grade: D- (If Joe Johnson leaves), C- (If Joe Johnson stays at the discounted rate)
Seattle Supersonicahs –
Retained: Jesus Shuttleworth-SG -
Lost: Jerome James - C , Antonio Daniels - PG, could be more still...
Unless a team is on the verge of winning a championship, I don’t think Ray Allen is worth the money. Seattle would have been better off spending the money locking up the rest of their free agents (Jerome James, A. Daniels, Radmanovic, R. Murray) instead of only signing Ray Allen. Ray Allen was hardly even trying for over 2 years, until suddenly it was a contract year and he knew he needed to work hard again. I can’t even imagine the lack of effort he will put on the court the last 3 years of this contract.
Team Grade: D+
Memphis Grizzlies – this is confusing, let’s just list out what they did:
Lost: Bonzi Wells (to Sacramento), Stromile Swift (to Houston), Jason Williams, James Posey.
Acquired: Bobby Jackson- PG, Eddie Jones-SG, Damon Stoudamire-PG, Hakim Warrick (rookie from Syracuse).
What an absolute complete mess! I’d feel better if each of the players they acquired were 5 years younger, but the Grizzlies were getting rid of 2 players with severe behavior problems (Bonzi Wells & Jason Williams). Bonzi really doesn’t get along well with any coach yet. My favorite story is back when Bonzi was on Portland. After practice, Rasheed Wallace and Bonzi saw some young European on the team taking additional shots. Supposedly, Bonzi then chucked a basketball at this guy’s head, and Rasheed and Bonzi just laughed for like 10 minutes. If there ever was a story that represented the “straw that broke the camel’s back” this may have been it. Obviously, they were both traded from Portland shortly after that.
The good news – old-man Stoudamire and oft-injured Bobby Jackson will probably make a better backcourt then the erratic Jason Williams, and average Earl Watson. Of course, this all depends on Bobby Jackson, who seems to get injured on his way to the grocery store and misses 30-40 games consistently every year.
The bad news - Memphis just has to put up with Eddie Jones for 2 seasons, and then they will get out of this mess, and be able to spend a lot of money. Additionally, they gave up James Posey, their best defender!!! What were they thinking???
Side note – losing Stromile Swift won’t hurt them much, because they drafted Hakim Warrick, who has the exact same kind of physique, rebounding skills, & shot blocking game.
Grade: C+ (IF Bobby Jackson is healthy and plays) , C- (IF Jackson doesn’t play much).
Milwaukee Bucks --
Michael Redd-SG & Bobby Simmons- SF ? & re-signed Gadzuric – Center; Bogut (rookie from Utah) –
Milwaukee has quite the interesting roster suddenly. If TJ Ford actually returns from the back problem that kept him out all of last season, this team will start Ford & Redd in the backcourt, Simmons & Joe Smith up front, with Bogut passing the ball around. AND they have SG Desmond Mason off the bench, who can really score AND a capable 7-footer off the bench in Gadzuric. I’m going to say it right now, I think the whole Central division (Pistons, Pacers, Cavs, Bulls, & Bucks) could be in the playoffs next year!
The only drawback to these signings is the fact that Redd has a max contract just to shoot 3s (he can’t rebound, play defense, or distribute the ball) and Simmons got quite a lot of money for just one good year. This team will be stuck with each other for a long time, for better or for worse. The biggest unknown is how Simmons will perform. I like Simmons, but there still is a lot of uncertainty, and $9 million is a big bet that he will be an all-star caliber player.
Team Grade: B+ (may have spent too much too quickly, but a lot of potential is there)
Cleveland Cavaliers -
Larry Hughes - SG? ; Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Center ; Donyell Marshall – PF/SF? –
Hughes is as perfect a fit as one could ask for. I’ve already commented how I like the fact that he can 1) handle the ball, 2) play defense & 3) create steals and fastbreaks. Re-signing Z was necessary, even though Z will probably break down and not be that effective the last 2 years of the contract. It’s a necessary signing though, because Z is a rare 7-footer who can actually contribute. That’s why the Hughes signing is important, since the other 4 players on the floor have to be very active defensively to help with Z’s shortcomings (i.e. lack of quickness). This gives the Cavs a nice 3-year window to win it all. The icing on the cake was getting Donyell Marshall, a big guy who actually shoots 3s. I’m also confident in Luke Jackson (2nd-year player from Oregon, had back surgery last year) and Sasha Pavlovic to help out in the 3-pointer department. The Cavs are a great deal better than they were at the end of last season, they actually could have a decent 8-man rotation!
Team Grade: A- (the only way they get a better grade is if they had a perfect sign-and-trade to get something for Z. Rumors were swirling that there weren’t many trade partners capable of returning any kind of competent big-man in return ; so this really was the best-case situation for the Cavs, unless you think Simmons is a better buy at $9mill than Hughes at $14 mill)
Indiana Pacers:
Lost: Reggie Miller
Gained: Ron Artest, Granger (rookie from New Mexico), Euro guard that shoots 3s [Sarunas Jasikevicius – I looked it up]
Getting Artest back is huge. There won't be a hungrier man on the planet than Artest. In addition, the Pacers added a couple of players to their rotation, that should certainly make up for Reggie Miller. This is one deep team, that’s all I have to say.
Team Grade: A
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3 comments:
Nice work Gutsy.
It's amazing how one man's trash is another man's treasure. Stromile Swift is a good pickup for the Rockets who now get a mobile defender to work into the rotation. They can limit Juwon Howard's minuts and give teams the half-court look or the slightly more up-tempo look with Swift and McGrady flying all over the place.
I think the Pacers are the best team in the east. I think this is their big chance to win the title and now that Reggie Miller's gone, I'm rooting for them to do it. Nothing would please me more than for Miller to watch from home while Indy gets rings without that skinny little bastard.
The other team with crazy move was the heat. They re-negotiated Shaq's deal (probably overpaying him as his career winds down). Was able to keep Haslem, kicked out Jones, Woods and Butler and brought in Walker, Williams and Posey. I like the Posey pick up but I think the Walker and Williams addition will hurt the team by keeping the ball out of Wades hands.
Agreed that with the offseason the Pacers are now the team to beat in the East
I felt like we already discussed our displeasure with the Heat, so I ended up not writing about them. They are paying Antoine Walker $9 million per year for the next 6 years! As I said last week, I immediately pooped my pants, as my body went into complete shock upon hearing the news. What I didn't tell you, is that I then mailed the very same pants to Heat GM Pat Riley, since it was all his fault.
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