Offseason Moves Discussion

PB: Sitting here in our Sitting Room by the Sea, we realize we need to post an analysis of this summer’s NBA moves. Since we are in the same location, Dr. Hartnett (working on his MBP: Masters of Basketball Philosophy degree) and I will weigh in on the big moves. Of course, the biggest is the moving of KG to Boston for most of their roster. I’ll let you have the first say here, Dr. H.

AH: Hi there, I just finished a long paper on how many stars a team needs in order to be considered championship material. Talking about biggest moves, what about my man Rashard Lewis to Orlando? Isn’t that a huge move? ….. in the wrong direction!

PB: The interesting thing about Rashard Lewis’s deal is that even though Orlando overpaid, it looked like a decent move a month ago in the watered down East.

AH: Are u saying 120 million for a 3 point shooter is a decent move!????

PB: Hey, Phoenix overpaid for Nash and everyone said how can you spend that kind of money on a slow PG who can’t play D or consistently hit a long jumper. Orlando needed a scorer to go with Howard and he was best available. But it was a decent move ONLY if the East stays weak. Now look—Billups re-signs with Detroit, Jason Richardson comes to Charlotte making them competitive, VC re-signs with the Nets and the, of course, the Celtics become title contenders (yes, read that again, title contenders) with KG on board to play with Allen and Pierce. Orlando looks to still be a player away with no money left to get one.

AH: Anyway, lets not get started on these otherwise we will never finish this. I do have to agree that the signing of KG should have the biggest impact. But Title contenders? Let the season start.. I remember getting all excited in the 2004 season.. about a certain team that had 4 future Hall-of-Famers on it.

PB: OK, a few years ago Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker (yes, that Antoine Walker) led the Celts deep into the playoffs against the Nets. Now Pierce has THE best 3 point shooter in the NBA (stats back that up…non-debatable) in Ray Allen and KG. KG, the man who gets 20-10-5 every year. Only Larry Bird and Wilt have numbers like him. And now they are all on the same team??!!! I could play point for these guys. You can’t play 5 guys against them and double team all 3. And all 3 can beat their man one-on-one. The only question is can they play D? But KG is a GREAT defender and the LEADING REBOUNDER in the league and Ray can dig deep…he played at UConn. So yes, title contenders. Great move by the Celts. They have needed to make a move like this for 15 years. I am officially on their bandwagon!

AH: (grudgingly) I guess I have to concede that point to you, and I actually do like KG on the Celtics, he is probably one of the best players to never make the finals and it will be exciting to see what he can do with 2 other good players with him. Pierce and Allen will make things exciting, but as far as you playing point! Hmm…I think Tony Parker, and Steve Nash will be quaking in their shoes!

PB: As far as other moves…Lewis does make Orlando better, but not so good now that the East is improved (all really rides on Howard’s continued upward curve)…Billups re-signing keeps Detroit very dangerous. Remember this team had the best record in the East last year and would have been in the Finals if not for the breakout performance of LBJ. With Billups they are still very good…VC on the Nets again, ummm, whatever. They will win some games but have no chance of winning more than one series in the playoffs…Hey, Smush Parker in Miami. How bad are they!! They have got nothing besides a broken down Shaq (still a good move to get him a few years ago, though, as they did win the title; but it is 2007 now)

AH: Hey they have Smush at point! They could have had you!

PB: No way. Remember, I am only playing PG for the Celtics. But I am concerned about Wade’s health. He still hasn’t shown us if he is 100% recovered from his surgery. Remember this team got SWEPT out of Round 1 of the playoffs…And then ZACH RANDOLPH (my all-time fantasy league MVP) to New York. He and Eddie Curry will either bounce the defenders away or enter a steel cage match against each other. Should be fun to watch since Marbury is such a great team player as well.

AH: Haha I know, all they need is Ron-Ron and Sheed and you have The Nu York Knicks a reality show for the ages. Marbury is doing great stuff off court with Starbury, hope he has something in the soles to help him this season. The Knicks have potential but I think the Celtics will be the team to beat in the East

PB: Let’s move on to the West. What if I told you that your back court was Steve Francis and Bonzi Wells? Well, that is what Houston got to play with Yao and T-Mac. It is a great experiment that will either end with a team that will be very dangerous in the playoffs OR they will have their own reality show with everyone attempting to get along with each other. Good stuff. Do they eat pizza when they all get together or Chinese food?

AH: Francis is not the player he was, but he may be able to provide some help to the Rockets. Hmm then again, what did he do last year for the Knicks? Nothing… I wonder what they did at Yao’s wedding… and how different Yao will be now that he is married.

PB: He will be eating bigger meals…we’ll see if married life slows him down. The Suns got Grant Hill, which really means nothing since he will get hurt trying to keep up with the Phoenix fast break. LA Lakers got Derek Fisher and Elton Brand of the Clips just tore his Achilles. In other words, there will be no basketball in May in LA. Any other big deals in the West? Not really. Except, of course, the arrival of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant!!

AH: The West will be interesting, I just hope we haven’t hyped the 2 super-rookies too much. The Sonics will be intriguing because Durant will be the man from day one with both Allen and Lewis gone; lets see what happens with this team. I really want to watch the no-longer Jail-Blazers. Oden should make an instant impact. The only thing is that it is the West and it is still tough. The Lakers did nothing, what do u think Kobe will do?

PB: We have another two months for the Lakers to make Kobe happy. If not, I see him getting a mild injury, saying why should I bust my butt to play, and sitting for few months in “rehab.” That would be his payback to management for not getting new players. I can’t see Bynum going crazy but that is what they need to have happen. They could have a hard time with Portland: Oden and Brandon Roy are good building blocks.

PB: Well, that is about all for now. We will be back as the days click by. Let’s hope that in the next few weeks Jermaine O’Neal moves somewhere just to keep life interesting. Until then…go Celtics!