Free agency is in full swing and the majority of the big FA guns have found new homes so while I’m sure the off-season excitement isn’t over by a long shot, let’s take a look at how the top four contenders have fared so far.
Boston Celtics
The Upside
The NBA Champs of two years back have gotten serious over the summer and added a quality vet in former Detroit Piston, Rasheed Wallace. The center/forward is a hard man to guard and when motivated, is a beast. With proven vets like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, the motivation should be there. Can we now call them the Big 4?
The Downside
The Celtics bench is looking waaayyyy thin right now with the subtractions of James Posey, Stephon Marbury, and possibly Glen Davis. They tried to land Grant Hill, who decided to stay in Phoenix and is an injury or two away from real adversity.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Upside
The NBA Champs of last season was able to snag Ron Artest away from Houston. Artest will give them an instant boost of toughness and defensive swagger that the Champs were sorely missing last season as well as another scoring option.
The Downside
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Plain and simple, the Lakers should have concentrated first on retaining Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom before looking for outside help and not doing so may end up costing them another championship. Latest news has them pulling out of talks with Odom over the amount of years on the last contract offer. Bad news for LA as Odem is ESSENTIAL to LA’s success.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Upside
The Cavs have addressed two of their needs with the additions Of Shaquille O’Neil (A big body and proven scoring option) and Anthony Parker (a tall guard that can hit the three and plays solid defense). They also resigned their hustle specialist, Anderson Verejao, to a six year deal.
The Downside
Their inability to land a top flight free agent has to be frustrating, but with your superstar leaving his future with the organization undecided, what can you expect. Health will be a key issue as the Cavs got older with the signings of Parker and Shaq.
Orlando Magic
The Upside
The Eastern Conference Champs of a year ago have added a few new pieces to the mix by acquiring New Jersey Nets all-star Vince Young to roam the perimeter. They also added a couple of young forwards who can shoot in Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass. They also secured their depth at the center position by retaining Marcin Gortat.
The Downside
The Magic may fall victim to their own expectations by overreaching on some players while undervaluing the ones they had. You can talk to you're blue in the face about how Vince Carter is a better closer than Hedo Turkoglu but the reality is that without the Turk, the Magic wouldn’t have made it past Boston and they wouldn’t have made it past Cleveland as well. Throw in the loss of rising star Courtney Lee and you have to question Orlando’s thinking a bit
FINAL THOUGHTS
I seriously look for the Lakers to cave in soon and give Lamar Odom a 4-5 year deal, worth around $9 mil a season. Simply put, they can’t win another championship without him and with the Mavericks and Heat sniffing around about Lamar, they better act fast.
I also look for the Cavs to do something huge either before the season of before the trade deadline. It’s win NOW, all chips in, and GM Danny Ferry and Owner Dan Gilbert knows this and won’t balk at spending the money to make it happen. Rumblings around the league keep mentioning Gerald Wallace but my gut tells keeps whispering one name…Carlos Boozer. A loooong shot, sure, but it would fill the power forward position they need to fill and still give them cap flexibility for the upcoming 2010 free-agency period.
