So finally it's here. My Offseason Review. Basically, I sat and looked through all the moves made by every team in the league this offseason and gave them my amateur opinion. Sound Good? Good. So here we go.
Winners
Charlotte
Added: Adam Morrison, Walter Herrmann, Othella Harrington, health(?)
My Opinion: The Bobcats continue to build their franchise by getting players from winning programs, whether it be in college or international. It's not a bad philosophy as it's obviously paid off for the Bulls, who have done that the past few years. I doubt they'll make the playoffs like Raymond Felton said, but if they can stay healthy for a full season, I see no reason why they couldn't at least compete for a playoff spot, especially in the East.
Chicago
Added: Tyrus Thomas, Viktor Khryapa, Thabo Sefolosha, Ben Wallace, P.J. Brown, Howard Eisley
Lost: Tyson Chandler, Darius Songaila, Othella Harrington
My Opinion: The league best defense from last season just got better. It's not just my opinion, it's probably most people's. They've got plenty of scorers, they just don't have a go-to scorer. Despite that, I will be in shock if the Bulls aren't in the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
New Orleans
Added: Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons, Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler, Bobby Jackson, Rasaul Butler
Lost: Moochie Norris, Speedy Claxton, P.J. Brown, J.R. Smith
My Opinion: Adding Peja was the most slept on move of the offseason for any team. He's going to love playing with a guy like Chris Paul. Losing P.J. Brown is never good, but they made up for it by getting depth inside. The Hornets will lock up one of the last playoff spots this year.
Portland
Added: LeMarcus Aldridge, Dan Dickau, Raef LaFrentz, Brandon Roy, Jamal Magloire
Re-Signed: Joel Pryzbilla, JailBlazers Image
Lost: Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, Steve Blake, Brian Skinner, Ha Seung-Jin
My Opinion: This team took a big blow when they lost Ha Seung-Jin, but they countered it by picking up LaFrentz. Okay, so that last sentence was a huge lie all around. But this team did some pretty good things this summer when it came to basketball decisions, not so much on the extracurriculars. Rookies Aldridge and Roy will be solid players for them in the future.
Toronto
Added: Kris Humphries, Robert Whaley, Rasho Nesterovic, T.J. Ford, Andrea Bargnani, Fred Jones, P.J. Tucker
Re-Signed: Chris Bosh
Lost: Rafael Araujo, Matt Bonner, Eric Williams, Charlie Villanueva, Alvin Williams
My Opinion: Trading away Villanueva was tough. But don't sleep on T.J. Ford. He's a great choice at point guard if you want to turn into a running team like the Raptors do. Getting rid of Araujo was smart. Bringing in Rasho? Not so much. He won't fit into the running style of play at all. But their best move of all had to be re-signing Bosh. Good move.
Losers
New York
Added: Renaldo Balkman(seriously?!?!?!), Mardy Collins, Jared Jeffries
Lost: Larry Brown, Jackie Brown, Maurice Taylor
My Opinion: Do I really need to say why I think they sucked this offseason? I didn't think so.
Philadelphia
Added: Rodney Carney
Lost: John Salmons
My Opinion: They didn't move Allen Iverson. Okay, that's fine if you do something to put some better pieces around him. They didn't do that either. Instead, they added Carney, who plays the same position and does pretty much the same things as Andre Iguodala. Expect yet another season of mediocrity from the 76ers.
Seattle
Added: Saer Sene
Re-Signed: Chris Wilcox
My Opinion: Seattle went nowhere last season. Expect the same this year. In fact, the farthest I see this team going any time soon? Oklahoma City, perhaps.
Teams I Wish I Had League Pass For
Atlanta
Added: Speedy Claxton, Sheldon Williams
Lost: Al Harrington, John Edwards
My Opinion: The Hawks finally have a solid point guard in Speedy Claxton, except he broke his had and will be out for a while. But with Josh Smith and a most likely much improved Marvin Williams, this team will be fun to watch all season. I honestly wouldn't be surpised to find the Hawks in the hunt for a playoff spot late in the season.
Orlando
Added: J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans
Re-signed: Trevor Ariza
Lost: DeShawn Stevenson
My Opinion: Throwing J.J. Redick into a young core group that includes Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and Darko Milicic was brilliant. Darko will surprise many people with his play alongside Howard this season, and might even muster up some All-Star votes. That's right, you heard it here first, Darko Milicic will compete for an All-Star spot. This team will improve as the season goes on, but I think they're still one season away from the playoffs. Nonetheless, this team will be fun to watch.
So there you have it, my offseason review. If your favorite team wasn't mentioned, it was because I felt like the moves they made didn't hurt them or help them enough to make much of an impact this season. If you've got beef with my report, great. Feel free to email me any comments you got.
