A message comes across the television screen, perspiration clouds your thoughts as you endeavor to obtain the pertinent information as it is distributed county wide. A local newsperson pleads for the citizens of their great town to limit their air conditioning use, the local circuits just can not withstand such bloated use. It has to be hotter this year than last. What’s the record high for this time of year anyways? Will this oppressive, overwhelming, smoldering heat ever subside. These are the dog days of summer. Around the NBA, much like your living room, activity is kept to a minimum, it’s simply not the right time. There is the summer league, should you need your basketball fix, but in all likelihood that will satiate you as much as a can of Coke and a cigarette would Lindsay Lohan at the 40/40 Club. The bulk of the major moves have been made, and teams are in a holding pattern, no more perfect a time to analyze the personnel changes thus far.
*Quick note: There have been many player moves so far, here we’ll focus on the major ones that will alter an individual franchise’s winning potential.
Dwight Howard is taking his talents down to South Padre Island. With the addition of the most unlikable player in the NBA, the Rockets are an immediate impact team in the Western Conference. For once, at long last, Dwight Howard has made the correct decision. Let’s all stand up and applaud him, that is after all what he’s expecting and no player in the league is more aware of himself and how he is viewed than Dwight Howard. Yep, Dwight’s gonna take the old SS Jackass out and set sail for southern shores, where he’ll probably play a few seasons before requesting a trade. Now that that little bit of vitriol has been exercised from the old system, let’s get down to brass tacks, the Rockets are going to be very good. One thing must be as clear as the lane when Mike D’Antoni’s Suns were on defense, Dwight will be deferring to James Harden on offense. Dwight Howard has been in the NBA for nine seasons now and contrary to what you may have heard, he has absolutely zero offensive game. He can dunk… That’s it. “Oh but he has a baby hook,” you may be saying, guess what? So do I. So does every single player in the NBA. Why? Other than a dunk or a lay up it’s the easiest shot you could possibly ever take on the court of basketball. Harden has the ability to create his own shot, he can drive the lane and he is fully capable of bringing the ball up court. Houston’s offense will run through him, Dwight will get his fair share of post up opportunities, but don’t be surprised if the bulk of his points come off of rebounds. Oh yeah, and that Parsons guys pretty good too, don’t leave him open.
In the battle of the boroughs a winner can already be declared. With the addition of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Brooklyn Nets are hands down the best team in New York City. The Nets will be trotting out a starting five that few teams will be prepared to deal with, they have size, defense and scoring ability in droves. Couple that with the jewel in the crown of Tsar Prokhorov, Andrei Kirilenko as a rock solid sixth man, and the Russian has acquired the services of another Russian who can make your problems disappear. Expect the Nets to win the division and to be major players in the Eastern Conference come Playoff time. Of course much of the Nets success hinges upon the aging legs of Pierce and Garnett, but should their minutes be managed there will be no reason to worry, as being the star of the show should no longer be a requirement. The one lingering threat to Brooklyn is no opponent on the court but rather a question mark that sits on their bench. Jason Kidd has never coached a game in the NBA. Will he step back, be a figurehead while Lawrence Frank carries the bulk of the game planning load, barring an unexpected explosion of basketball brilliance by Brooklyn’s biggest bet, it may be their only hope of winning it all.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are one year older, should they continue to progress as expected, the Warriors have quite the one-two punch at guard. David Lee should be coming back healthy to start the season, and Andrew Bogut is a pretty solid, legit seven foot NBA center. Hey, how about we throw Andre Iguodala in there just for good measure? A high octane team, just became higher octane. In Iguodala, the Warriors have added a player that can do just about everything on the court, he can score, he can rebound and most importantly he can defend the opposing team’s best swingman. Iguodala is not a player to be relied upon to score enough to keep you in a game, but in Golden State, he won’t have to. With another year of experience and the addition of a veteran player, the Warriors are poised to make a deep Playoff run.
The Dallas Mavericks days of competing for an NBA championship are over, to be honest they were over the second they let Tyson Chandler leave town. However, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban doesn’t do rebuild, even though it’s probably time to. Dirk Nowitzki is a marvelous player and an all time great, but methinks he perhaps may be upon the last of his legs. At this stage of his career is adding “b” level stars to Dirk’s supporting cast the prudent thing to do? No, but here comes Monta Ellis. Ellis is a high level scorer in the NBA, but that’s it. He will give you absolutely nothing else. Monta will win you that odd game against the Suns or the Hawks where 30 points from him is needed, but he’s not a guy that’s going to take you back to the promised land. In signing Ellis the Mavericks are back to being just good/bad enough to barely make or miss the Playoffs, at least they managed to sign him to a very team friendly deal.
Ever since the NBA’s best player headed South the Cavaliers have been regrouping. They’ve managed to develop a player who is looking more and more like a franchise maker and premiere player in Kyrie Irving. They’ve got decent role players but aren’t at the point of truly turning the franchise around. Free agents are hard to come by, unfortunately for them, Cleveland just isn’t that desirable of a destination. This is why taking a risk and signing Andrew Bynum is a great idea. Before being traded to Philadelphia, where he didn’t play a single game it must be noted, Bynum was widely considered the second best center in the NBA, first by some. Due to his vast injury concerns, Bynum was forced to sign a short term deal for less money than he would have liked, but the onus is on him to perform and prove that he is once again a max contract player, and as we all know that is what is most important to Andrew Bynum.
Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith, that’s a pretty formidable front line you’ve got their Detroit, now how about working on that economy of yours. Apparently Joe Dumars has grown weary of watching the Playoffs from home and has chosen to watch the first round in person and then watch the remaining rounds from the comfort of his home. The mist has passed and it has become clear that the Pistons that where built for their 2004 NBA championship run were indeed a fluke as Dumars somehow remains a general manage in the National Basketball Association. Is Josh Smith a bad player, not at all, is he supremely overrated, bingo! Let’s just hope for Detroit’s sake that Josh doesn’t fall in love with the three point line the way he did in Atlanta, the motor city has suffered enough.
That one year window is closing… oh and it’s shut. Sorry New York, the Knicks are going to take a step back this season. They are without a doubt still a Playoff team, but much like the recently transpired season, despite the delusions of Spike Lee, the Knicks are by no means a championship contender. Ron “Metta Worldpeace” Artest is a terrific acquisition by the Knicks, for a team that likes to think they have a gritty edge, he will finally give them a gritty edge. He won’t give you much on the offensive end any more, but c’mon, he’s here for his “D” and if he isn’t, well then Mike Woodson isn’t the coach we all thought he was. As good a move as Artest is, that’s how bad of a move the Andrea Bargnani trade is. We all know he’s played his entire career North of the border, but I’m pretty sure Canadian basketball is televised in the United States, someone in the Knick’s organization should have watched him play basketball before trading for him.
BOOM! LIGHTNING ROUND! RAPID FIRE ANALYSIS ENGAGED! READ THESE AS FAST AS YOU CAN BECAUSE THAT’S HOW IT IS BEING WRITTEN!!!!!
The Charlotte Bobcats signed power forward Al Jefferson, proving that Al Jefferson is okay with potentially never winning another basketball game agin and that for the head of basketball operations, Michael Jordan was one hell of a basketball player. At least they’ll be the hornets again, that should create some buzz (Get it? Get it? Get it?).
The Atlanta Hawks have signed power forward Paul Millsap, a player that averages three points and one rebound per game less than Josh smith who he is replacing. This means that the Hawks should be almost exactly as good as they were this past season, seriously Atlanta, blow it up already, it ain’t gonna happen, this is a signing made for signing’s sake, it makes no basketball sense.
The New Orleans Pelicans… Come on the Pelicans? You’re seriously going to put a basketball team on an NBA court called the Pelicans? Fine, whatever, the Pelicans have traded for Jrue Holiday and they’ve signed Tyreke Evans, meaning they are really interested in having a very crowded backcourt with a logjam at the guard position. Just think of all the guards in New Orleans as small fish, smelts perhaps, gently nestled into the beak of the MIGHTY PELICAN!
The Los Angeles Clippers wanted to trade for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, in order to pair them with newly acquired, familiar coach Glen “Doc “Turncoat”” Rivers. They signed JJ Redick. The former Blue Devil may not be the player(s) that Garnett or Pierce is, but he’s no chopped liver either, I guess since it’s LA it would be pâté not chopped liver, then again it’s the Clippers not the Lakers, let’s stick with chopped liver. Redick will be solid for the Clippers, but a championship contender they are not. Hey Blake and Deandre, dunks are awesome, but if you’d like a deep playoff run how about some defense and I don’t know some low post scoring?
The Milwaukee Bucks have signed OJ Mayo and the entire Mayo family is ecstatic, the citizen’s of Milwaukee on the other hand are blissfully unaware of the existence of their professional basketball team. It’s not their fault, even when the Bucks make the Playoffs they are the league’s second most irrelevant team, they have Charlotte to thank for that. Watch out though Bucks, once those Hornets don the teal jerseys a resurgence in popularity is-a-coming. If you’re Milwaukee, what can you do? Bucks gonna buck, amiright? Even Brandon Jennings desperately wants to leave town and there are almost no rumors of any team going after him. I’m pretty sure I heard a rumor the other day that Jennings was angling for a trade to Denver, at a Home Depot, anything to get out of Wisconsin.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed shooting guard Kevin Martin, he’s OK, decent player, but this one’s more about…
The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially given James Harden away for nothing! It was evident in the Playoffs just how much the Thunder missed the offensive potency that Harden provides, but at least Martin was able to chip in a few double digit scoring games here and there. That’s all out the window now. Of course the Thunder missed Westbrook dearly, and he will be back, but as presently constituted they are no longer the favorite to come out of the West. This is not how championship rosters are formed, by allowing integral players (Harden not Martin) to depart all because of fear of paying a luxury tax. What happens when they can’t compete and Russell Westbrook wants out, you can’t tell me he doesn’t have the personality for it, Durant won’t want to stick around. Sure it’s a worse case scenario, but you heard it here first! Then, maybe then, the Sonics can finally head back to Seattle.
There’s definitely more to come this offseason and at least one more block-splintering trade to appear. Much like a blossoming teenager at their first sleepaway camp, the teams of the NBA are still figuring themselves out. This will be a summer of new developments for them and of growth into their new rosters, the next season is just around the corner, but for now let’s all just enjoy the figuring out period.
