NBA Offseason 2009

[Noj]

Wow, this is shaping up to be a crazy offseason. Artest would be a great fit for the Cavs, but if Sheed lands in Boston I don't think anything short of an act of God could deter a healthy Celtics squad from winning it all. Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Sheed, Garnett starting 5, with Davis and Perkins anchoring the bench? That team will steamroll everyone.

Are the Celtics going to screw over Leon Powe?

[jon abbey]

Artest seems like a bad fit for Cleveland a la Larry Hughes (who, let's not forget, was an All-Star the year before going to Cleveland).

[jon abbey]

Zach Randolph to Memphis for the corpse of Quentin Richardson (amusingly ending up back with the Clippers), which may leave David Lee no choice but to resign a reasonable deal with NY (although if Utah matches Oklahoma City's offer to Millsap, that may change things).

[Borat Pri Hagafen]

There are obviously strong similarities between the two, but Artest's basketball IQ is about 1000 points higher than Hughes. Hughes could've been a good fit if he wasn't so fucking stupid as far as his basketball decision-making.

[jon abbey]

There are obviously strong similarities between the two, but Artest's basketball IQ is about 1000 points higher than Hughes. Hughes could've been a good fit if he wasn't so fucking stupid as far as his basketball decision-making.

ooh, I don't know about that. I'd say he's somewhat smarter and certainly more talented, but his shot selection is quite frequently selfish and awful.

[Enforcer]

Yeah, it's not obvious to me how Gordon and Hamilton are going to coexist. But the Pistons are already a better team today than they were yesterday.

[jon abbey]

Cleveland talking to Ariza, he seems like a better fit with them than Artest. for one thing, he doesn't need to get his shots, but he's happy to take them if they're there.

[Borat Pri Hagafen]

I would happily take either of them. Or Odom.

[The G Man]

Kevin Arnovitz at True Hoop

The NBA's salary cap structure is usually unforgiving of teams who made the kind of miscalculation the Clippers did on Zach Randolph last season. But the Clippers have been leading a charmed existence over the past six weeks. First Blake Griffin land in their lap, and now they find a willing sucker for Zach Randolph.

[Captain Hate]

There are obviously strong similarities between the two, but Artest's basketball IQ is about 1000 points higher than Hughes.

Your ability to overlook all those fucking threes that Artest witlessly hoisted against the Lakers is impressive.

[Captain Hate]

Kevin Arnovitz at True Hoop

The NBA's salary cap structure is usually unforgiving of teams who made the kind of miscalculation the Clippers did on Zach Randolph last season. But the Clippers have been leading a charmed existence over the past six weeks. First Blake Griffin land in their lap, and now they find a willing sucker for Zach Randolph.

Just when the Memphis vice squad was counting on the number of sexual assaults to decline with Calipari leaving town.

[Borat Pri Hagafen]

Maybe I'm just delusional. I think Artest would thrive in Cleveland.

[Noj]

Cleveland talking to Ariza

Oh please God no.

[jon abbey]

John Hollinger makes a valid point that Dumars was clearly hoping for better long-term players than Ben Gordon and Villanueva when he gave away Billups.

[Harold Baines]

There will be a whole lot of games the Bulls previously would have one in the fourth quarter that they'll lose now.

Gordon is non-existent on defense, but I've never seen someone get off a shot as quickly in traffic (and I watched pretty much all of Jordan's career). When he's feeling it, forget about it.

[Noj]

Ariza was displeased with the Lakers initial offer, and is now being courted by Houston, Portland, Cleveland, and the Clippers. If Kobe wants to win, he'll shave a few million off his obnoxious salary and distribute it to teammates to keep them aboard. If Ariza goes, he takes the Lakers' slim chances of repeating with him.

[Borat Pri Hagafen]

It sounds like if Artest leaves, his likely destination would be the Lakers rather than the Cavs. I assume that's only if Ariza goes, but who knows?

Adding Ariza would be phenomenal for the Cavs, but they'd still need to either re-sign AV or sign-and-trade him for another PF.

[jon abbey]

It sounds like if Artest leaves, his likely destination would be the Lakers rather than the Cavs.

he's supposedly signed there now:

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entr ... 3/15861966

[Borat Pri Hagafen]

ESPN's saying Ariza to Houston. Awesome. Looks like the Cavs will have first crack at either Bison Dele or Jayson Williams. Maybe they can sign Vick.

[Enforcer]

John Hollinger makes a valid point that Dumars was clearly hoping for better long-term players than Ben Gordon and Villanueva when he gave away Billups.

Absolutely. I don't like where the Pistons are headed. Losing Billups only makes sense if they land a real star player. It doesn't have to be LeBron, but at least one of the other studs from that rookie class. And if that's not going to happen (which is likely the case), then they really don't have a clear path to improvement.

The East has some really good teams now. Rasheed is too old to be a key cog anymore and it's tough to build an elite team without a two-way big man in the middle. I see the Pistons as a bottom half of the playoff bracket type team for the foreseeable future unless they pull off a big deal in the next year or so.

Even so, with Billups' contract, it would have been tough to sign the players they'd need to get out of the East again anyway.