First of all, if anyone reading this blog knows me then they know that I am a huge LeBron/Cavs fan. So, I decided to post this picture to show that even I can laugh at the King.
Day 2 of my coverage of the NBA off-season and it looks like there is still a lot of action that will be taking place in the next couple of months. The Lakers have pulled their 3 year, $27 million offer to Lamar Odom, meaning what you ask? It's not really clear at this point. Odom claims he wants to stay in LA, but if he pulls a Jay Cutler and is upset that the team has tried to trade him so many times, allegedly, and also didn't get to his contract until after speaking to Ariza and Artest, we could see Dwyane Wade and Odom reuniting in Miami next season. Miami can't offer as much as the Lakers because LA owns his bird rights; however, Miami does not have state taxes. Therefore, Odom's deal in Miami would not be worth too much less than the $9/per in LA. This would be the second signing this summer affected by State taxes. Ariza took the same amount of money in Houston that the Cavs could have offered him for the exact same reason. It's all about the benjamins as usual. My prediction is, unfortunately (cavs fan), that Lamar is going to be playing along side the Lakers reserves again next season.
In other news, Carlos Boozer has said that he expects to be traded to clear some salary for the Jazz to sign Millsap. I'm not really sure how you can justify choosing Millsap over Boozer at this point. Sure, Boozer gets hurt a lot. However, when the Jazz reached the ECF a couple years ago it was due in large part to him. He's only 27, and Millsap is 24. Boozer is being treated like a 30 year old veteran in this situation which I think is a mistake. I love Millsap, but I don't see him as a superstar in this league at any point. I guess we'll see what happens here, but either way two teams are gonna end up with a very good power forward (one of them being the Jazz, obviously).
Now it's onto the grades. Today I'm gonna discuss 3 teams that are on the cusp of becoming contenders, but just aren't quite there yet. They don't have too much wiggle room left to make any more additions, but they are certainly in position to compete for the 3, 4, and 5 seeds in their respective conferences. I'm talking about Atlanta, Detroit, and Dallas.
Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks have added Jamal Craword. They already have a dominant scorer in Joe Johnson so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm not sure if there'
s enough ball for the two of them, and I'm also not sure how Crawford would feel about coming off the bench. In terms of pure talent, Crawford is a good addition. In terms of chemistry... that's another question. He's hardly had a track record of being a team player. His recent stints in New York and Golden State have shown that he can score, but also have shown that that's really all he cares about. We shall see. They also picked up Jeff Teague in the draft. I followed Teague at Wake Forest and saw a lot of potential, but I saw him being a stud in a year. We'll see if he can put it together this year, but I doubt it. If they could sign a dominant big man, or trade for one then they would be a real contender... I don't see it happening this year. However, if they can resign Marvin Williams, they should be in good shape to compete for the 4 and 5 seeds in the East. They'll have more competition this year with the resurgence of the Wizards, but they'll have a shot to reach the second round again, and maybe even pull a game out (not against my Cavs though).Grade: B
Detroit Pistons- Detroit is an interesting case. They picked up Ben Gordon, which not only helps their team a good amount, but also puts a foe, Chicago, in a tough situation for this upcoming season. Also, they picked up a player that I LOVE in Charlie Villanueva (thanks for tweeting about the Cavs and letting us down CV). So they got 2 good young players... good right? Wrong. It's impossible to believe that when they traded Billups for Iverson they expected to be left with Gordon and Villanueva as their HUGE free agent signings. They expected to get Boozer and maybe also Gordon, but it didn't happen. Now they're left with a chucker, and a player who has a reputation for not quite putting it all together (yet). Gordon and hamilton in the same backcourt... yeah right. They also lost Rasheed and McDyess, so they are clearing looking towards the future. If Stuckey is as good as they think he is, Detroit could compete for the 3rd spot with Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston (they're not a better team by any means, but the regular season is the regular season). If not- which is likely the case- then Detroit gave up Billups, Sheed, McDyess, Amir Johnson, and Arron Afflalo for CV, BG, and Austin Daye. Bad moves by Dumars up to this point. He even sucks at picking coaches apparently (or, rather, he can't realize when a coach is good). We'll see what he has up his sleeves, but for now:
Grade: B-
Dallas Mavericks- Another interesting offseason. Overpaid for Kidd, got a washed up Marion, lost Bass, got played for Gortat... I'm not sure if gaining Marion and losing Bass makes them better at all. People are talking about them being a force to be reckoned with in the West now
... but I saw them play against Denver, and I don't see them coming any closer to beating them now. Also, they beat a seriously depleted San Antonio team which got them way too much credit. Cuban has a problem here, and he needs to find a solution in the body of a big man soon if he expects to continue to compete and keep Dirk in the summer of '10.Grade: B-
These teams are all a player or two away from being true threats in the League. Problem is... they aren't gonna get anywhere near what they need this year. These teams look like the ones that will go 1-3 against the contenders during the season (But hey, atleast they'll win one right?)
Stay tuned for more from me.
For now... Peace World
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