Movers and Shakers

I have to admit that I've been surprised by the flurry of off-season moves taking place this year. More importantly, I've been impressed by their significance. Maybe I wasn't attentive enough in earlier years but it seems like this has been a year of an especially large number of significant moves. When I say significant I mean that they affect the top tier or at least have some importance beyond the usual salary, contract, and ticket sale posturing that drags you down as you watch team after team go through the motions (And no I'm not 'talkin about practice').

You might look at the recent past which saw the Suns pick up Shaq, the Lakers add Gasol, Ben Wallace to Cavs, and what Kidd did to the Mavs, or the Minnesota fire sale that propelled Boston's 2008 championship, but what interests me this year is the broad range of significant movement rather than a couple teams filling the summers' main news or even the.

I won't belabor it by going through every transaction but I think it is telling to look at the conference finals teams for a barometer. We have the Lakers, coming off a championship yet still adding the realest man in the hood, Ron Artest. As a Portland fan, I have to say that I felt the safest in our 2009 playoff series with Houston when they ran their offense through Artest, but the dynamic in LA will be different. There will be a significant benefit from his no holds barred defense as well as an environment that won't likely result in the same offensive stagnation.

Next, there's the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic. First and foremost they picked up Vince Carter. Again, despite his reputation, Carter will certainly be able to help a championship contender who isn't limited to his choice of fade-away jumpers or lack of enthusiasm. His 20-5-5 will surely fall but that's not a bad thing as the shot selection will improve. Aside from Carter, the Magic also added a unpredictably explosive Matt Barnes, a 'power duo' of Ryan Anderson (surprise #2) and Brandon Bass, and even retained surprise #1 back-up center Marcin Gortat. With Jameer Nelson potentially returning to All-Star form, this could be quite a season. Even if Nelson doesn't develop any new moves, an aging Carter continues to favor his jumper, or the complementary pieces remain merely solidly complementary, the Magic truly impressed this off-season.

The last time the Boston Celtics were healthy, they won a championship. Even though this was only a year ago, the Celtics beefed up last year's front-line with Rasheed Wallace. Again, a player with an interesting reputation, but I'll always remember a quote from one of his Piston teammates; Essentially, Rasheed and plenty of other people in the league talk a lot of shit but the difference is that sheed has the ability to back it up. That's pretty much how I feel about him as well. When he has the desire, he can post big. Even though he's getting older too, I watched him for years in Portland and beyond and feel fairly confident that the past year was an example of a lack of effort rather than a decline in skill from his Detroit years. It will be very interesting to see how a move for another immediate title attempt will affect his game.

Then there's Denver, the only member of the quartet that so far seems content to sit this one out. If we replace Denver with San Antonio, who was a more anticipated power in the West, the arms race continues as they picked up the now available Richard Jefferson. The Spurs probably wanted Sheed but still strengthened their front a bit with the addition of Antonio McDyess. With a hopefully recovered Ginobili, the Spurs made a already strong team that little bit better and should make some noise next season.

Finally, despite an early exit to the post season, it would obviously be incomplete to overlook the Caverliers. Although you might be thinking that Shaq doesn't have enough diesel left in the tank partner with yet another team's young superstar en route to a championship, we might be in for a surprise. It's true that O'Neal failed to bring Phoenix to the promised land when they acquired him in a last ditch effort but, at least pre-season, this year's move is a bigger deal. Keep in mind that at that time Shaq was stuck in Miami, labeled a contract liability that wouldn't move, as well as sporting injuries that kept him out of over 60 games during the past two seasons. Regardless of your feelings about his age or fitness, it's apparent that it is a different world today as Shaq just finished a season of 75 games while posting his best stats since 2005/06 (or was it 1995/96?). The Cavs also picked up Jamario Moon, who should fit in nicely with his wicked athleticism.

So why do these moves matter? Well, for one they fall outside of the realm of revolving door transactions like those of Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson who will combine for a total of at least 5 trades in a year. Also, they have the opportunity to make an impact beyond contributing another 20 and 10 performance in a lottery-bound season. In the end, there is the chance that the course of the season may not be meaningfully defined by these moves, but I feel that they will add a great deal of much needed intrigue this year. I respect the gamesmanship that is displayed in each of the above cases, whether they are fiscally responsible or not. They are attempts at victory, whether they achieve it or not.

Even on teams that are still figuring it out (and sometimes especially in these cases), there is just something inside that takes more cheer from a newly restructured Pistons' core of Gordon, Villanueva, and Stuckey to go with Hamilton and Prince as oppose to the suggestion of an overpaid Iverson stealing minutes from the Clippers' or Grizzlies' youth in a blatant sacrifice for ticket sales.

As a final note, I would like to thank the Raptors for blocking the Trail Blazers attempt to tie up more cash per year in Hedo Turkoglu than the combined 2009 salaries of Roy and Aldridge. It was a big move for Toronto and I'm glad they did it but I'm not quite sure yet what they're looking to build. Kind of falls in the Marion to Dallas category, although I am much more interested to see how that will work out. Hedo's skill set and ball handling would have added a lot to the Blazers in the short term but, when it comes down to it, I would rather keep the bulk of the minutes where they are rather than paying through the nose to keep developing players on the bench. I would also like to thank KPritchard for not pursuing Lamar Odom so far. I actually find every player on our roster truly likable. That's fairly rare, I love it and would be pretty inconsolable if Odom crossed that line. New blog topic, file it under most disliked NBA players...