NBA Movers & Shakers

Time to recap the highlights of the 1st exciting week of NBA free agency:

The Ben Wallace Effect
Ben Wallace shook things up to go to Chicago. I was actually surprised not that Ben left, but that he chose Chicago. I remember hearing that he did not like how he was uninvolved in the offense on Detroit, but in Chicago, he’s taking the place of Tyson Chandler, another defensive center, who also was never involved in the offense. While the move on paper sounds great for Chicago, I don’t think its as big of an upgrade as some believe. The bigger news for Chicago is that they landed Tyrus Thomas in the draft (a dividend from the Eddy Curry trade / a donation by Knicks GM Isiah Thomas).

As for Detroit, I believe this hurts their team a lot more than it helps Chicago. Especially since Flip Saunders was coaching last season, player rotations were key to their 60+ win season last year. Granted, Detroit did just sign Nazr Mohammed, who is certainly a good defensive center, but I’m not sure if he’s quick enough to allow the Pistons to use the same defensive schemes as last season. Really, I believe that the Ben Wallace defection is a big stamp on the end of the Pistons championship window. It was a 4-year window, with 4 Final 4 appearances, 1 championship, and a 2nd finals appearance.

It seems as if GM Joe Dumars was on a sensational run at the craps table as Pistons GM, until it came to a screeching halt this past season. Unfortunately for the Pistons and Joe Dumars, they traded away a significant part of their depth in PG Carlos Arroyo and Darko during the season just to have salary cap space to sign Ben Wallace. So in effect, the Carlos Arroyo and Darko trade only netted the Pistons Nazr Mohammed, which obviously was not a good play. Dumars took a risk, and unfortunately for them, it didn’t work out.

Odds and Ends
Tim Thomas is your typical player who looks great only during a contract season. He signed with the Clippers (after leaving the Suns), and I’m fearful this will not be a good move. He replaces Radmonovic, who signed with the Lakers, giving them some much needed depth and a second shooter behind Kobe. It was a very good upgrade for the Lakers.

The Hornets got great news, with the additions of Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler, their lineup is now:
PF David West
SF Stojakovic
C Tyson Chandler (pending trade)
SG D. Mason
PG C. Paul
(they also drafted a couple of big rookies: Hilton Armstron (Uconn), Cedric Simmons (NC St.) )
this is a team that should be able to push through and make the playoffs in the West, if they can remain injury-free.

Super-Draft Class of 2003
Wade and Carmelo have agreed to their extensions with their current teams. Meanwile, Lebron is nowhere to be found. He could be at the Fortress of Solitude. He could be in outer space searching for the planet Krypton. I am pessimistic though in the fact that he refuses to send any communication about his plans which can only mean one thing – he plans on leaving Cleveland for the sole purpose of adding another chapter to Cleveland’s title of “most tortured sports city.”