The Summer of Colangelo

Every summer around the NBA it's a time with high spirits in which teams can turn their team around with a couple of trades into a championship team(just look at how the Boston Celtics turned their team around two seasons ago). At this point of the Off season most teams have completed modifying their team with trades, signing free agents and waiving away players, but which General Managers turned their team around into contenders and which ones had moves that were a little bit more than questionable.

Let's start with the teams in the Eastern Conference that so far are having a good off season by picking up the right guys for their teams and then the fun begins with the talk of the "losers" in the off season so far:


Winners

Orlando Magic: You though this team was scary last year? Well then look at the roster now, adding Vince Carter adds the veteran experience with his slashing (something Turkoglu can't do as well) and versatility makes him a danger any time he steps into the court, even at the age of 32. At this point in his career, Carter, has matured into a player that no longer needs to be the face of a franchise or cause as much trouble like he did throughout his career in Toronto (statements of not dunking anymore, not giving 100% and coaching problems) and instead is just looking to get a ring before his career is over. The Magic have also added more depth in both the small forward and power forward spots by adding Matt Barnes a role player who brings in defense, rebounding and some scoring. The second addition is Brandon Bass coming from Dallas who is very much like Barnes in the sense that they're role players and have good defense and rebound skills except that Bass is a big man and can play the Power Forward role much easier than Barnes. Now that the Magic have filled up their team with more depth, which is something I thought they lacked starting last season (I actually thought they were going to be a middle of the board team, but they proved me wrong) . They now have a team that could ultimately win a championship if there are no major injuries.

Players Coming In: Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson,Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass
Players Coming Out:Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Tony Battie, Rafer Alston
Still Free Agents:Tyronn Lue, Adonal Foyle, Jeremy Richardson



Toronto Raptors:

When every Raptors fan started to question Colangelo's decisions with the weak bench in the 08-09 season and the Ford for O'neal trade that went downhill very quickly; however, Colangelo completely amazed everybody with every trade and signing he has

made this off season.

The "main" move that has the Raptors GM has made was trading for Turkoglu in a four team trade that finally got Turkoglu in Toronto. This was only made after Turkoglu decided to sign with Toronto instead of Portland (what would have happened if Turkoglu's wife didn't like Toronto as much as Portland?). By singing Turkoglu the Raptors get a veteran small forward that can handle the ball, shoot from beyond the arc and go into the stripe. Apart from Turkoglu the Raptors got Wright a shooting guard who can defend quite well and George who was later traded for the Italian Bellineli. Bellineli not only brings in another sharpshotter into the team, but also bring in more potential than George could have brought as his career is close to over. This would take more pressure off the rookie Demar Derozan.

Colangelo has also re-enforced the bench by adding two veteran big men (Nesterovic and Evans). You have to like Colangelo for bringing back Rasho who has been a fan favourite from the moment he got to Toronto. Both this big man will bring much needed rebounding that this team needed. Lastly, to fill the point guard role the point guard Jarett Jack has been signed from the Indiana Pacers, he is much better than Ukic, Douby and Banks who would have had to back up Calderon. I'm very happy with what Colangelo has done and I think this team has been turned from a bottom of the barrel team to a playoff team.

Players Coming in: Hedo Turkoglu, Jarett Jack,Marco Bellinelli, Antoine Wright,Reggie Evans, Rasho Nesterovic, Demar Derozan
Players Coming out: Shawn Marion, Nathan Jawai, Parker, Kris Humphries, Jason Kapono
Still Free Agents: Joey Graham and Pops Mensah Bonsu


Washington Wizards: Ernie Grunfeld sounds like the name of a car salesman, but really he is a highway robber and part-time General Manager of the Washington Wizards. That's right this man pretty much stole Mike Miller and Randy Foye for three bench scrubs (Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov and Songaila) and the 5th pick in the draft which was none other than Ricky Rubio.

The Wizards got what they wanted which was a shooting guard and apart from defense Miller brings good shooting, rebound and solid play making. While Randy Foye who was a good player in a bad team, but nevertheless has lots of talent and will be a good back up point guard for the Wizards (scored 16 ppg last season). Meanwhile Minessota do get better bench scrubs than Jason Collins, Brian Cardinal, Mark Madson, and Sheldin Williams. I think that the Wizards are now set to be at least the 5th seed in the East and have had a successful off season.
Players Coming In: Randy Foye, Mike Miller
Players Coming Out: Darius Songaila,Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov
Still Free Agents: Juan Dixon


Cleveland Cavaliers: Apart from Colangelo another General Manager who has been doing things right is Danny Ferry. Last season the Cavaliers didn't have much strength in the interior and half found a way to fill that hole by adding O'neal. Now Shaq isn't a long-term solution, but the Cavs will have Big-Z as their backup center instead of a washed up Ben Wallace.

Apart from getting Shaq, the Cavaliers have signed former Raptors Moon and Parker who are above-average defenders. Parker will bring his veteran experience and consistent three pointer off the bench while Moon, despite having a low basketball IQ, still brings length and athleticism at the small forward position. The Cavaliers have improved their team with a better front court and deeper bench which should make them an even more confident contender.
Players Coming In: Shaquielle O'neal, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Daniel Green *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, Tarrance Kinsey,Wally Szczerbiak


So-So
Apart from teams that quickly "ruin" or "improve" their rooster, there are also teams that feel happy with their teams and only make a couple of small moves (some turn out to be winners while others losers):

Philadelphia 76ers: The 76ers have stayed with the same core as last year of Igoudala,
Dalambert and Brand, but have lost their "glue guy", Andre Miller, who was consistent every night. In response all the team did was use their draft pick on Jrue Holiday and trading Reggie Evans for Kapono,who's a poor man's Kyle Korver. Eddie Jordan will have to will have to work his magic on this team like when he got the Wizards to the players with a bench full of injured players.
Players Coming In: Jason Kapono, Jrue Holiday
Players Coming Out: Andre Miller, Theo Ratliff, Reggie Evans
Still Free Agents: Donyell Marshall, Kareem Rush, Royal Ivey


Indiana Pacers: It's been quiet around Indiana like in most of their home game these days. Larry Bird decided to keep the same core of Ford, Granger and Dunleavy (who is returning in January) while losing a couple of role players. All that has been happening here is the signing of three bench scrubs: Dahntay Jones, Solomon Jones and Earl Watson. Out of the three Earl Watson will probably get the most burn along with the most contribution. With this team the lottery is around the corner. Oh and how could they let Rasho go? Bird has to get his priorities straight!

Players Coming In: Tyler Hansbrough, Solomon Jones, Earl Watson, Dahntay Jones,A.J Price *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Jarett Jack, Rasho Nesterovic, Jamaal Tinsley
Still Free Agents: Stephen Graham, Maceo Baston, Marquis Daniels



New York Knicks: So far it's been quiet over at New York, just a bunch of rumors about what will happen with Lee and a couple of rookies joining the team. Donnie Walsh probably has a sign up his sleeve, but even getting Allen Iverson won't make this team better.

The rebuilding of this team will be successful in 2010 when they have lots of cap space and many free agents are available. The days in which Isaiah Thomas was the General manager in New York were more interesting, but pathetic too.
Players Coming In: Chris Hunter,Toney Douglas, Jordan Hill
Players Coming Out: Chris Wilcox
Still Free Agents: David Lee, Nate Robinson

Chicago Bulls: Da Bulls! Da Bulls! Gotta make it exciting somehow. You know it's been a quite off season when the biggest move you make is bring Jennero Pargo from Europe to join your team. Apart from that the rookie James Johnson will be a decent back up for John Salmons. With a healthy Deng this team won't be much better or worse than last year and will end up fighting for a 7th/8th place.

Coming In: Jennero Pargo, Taj Gibson, James Johnson
Players Leaving: Ben Gordon, Tim Thompson, Linton Johnson, Demarcus Nelson, Anthony Roberson,
Still Free Agents: Aaron Gray

Losers:
Lastly the duds, yes the teams that had General Managers who tried giving the team a quick fix or over paying an all star while keeping a very thin core. These are the losers:

Detroit Pistons: Mr.Dumars, Mr.Dumars, Mr. Dumars....tsk tsk. How is it possible that one man can create a team filled with smart defensive stoppers and slowly start to fill it with turnover prone offensive minded players. The acquisition of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva were just quick fixes for the fact that Detroit no longer has Billups and Wallace like in the not so distant past. Gordon is a player that even though he scores 20 plus points a game, he cares very little about defence, gets 2 or more turnovers per game and also has poor rebounding skills. The former Raptors, Villanueva, was a good power forward in a bad team and even though he is inconsistent he is a better offensive player than the veteran Wallace.

Apart from making his PF and SG spots a little better, the Center position is still left very weak with Wilcox as a starter and Kwane Brown as backup. This will probably be the first time in eight years that the Pistons don't make the playoffs.
Players Coming In: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, Jonas Jerbko *unsigned free agent*, Dejuan Summer *unsigned free agent*
Players Coming Out:Arron Affalo,Fabricio Oberto, Rasheed Wallace, Walter Sharpe, Amir Johnson Still Free Agents (but coming out): Allen Iverson

New Jersey Nets: It seems like yesterday when this team was hyped up with their "Big Three" of Kidd, Jefferson and Carter; however, that team never even managed to pass the second round of the playoffs. Now that the last one of the trio remaining (Carter) has been traded it seems like "re-building" will be a word used by the Nets fans.

Adding Courtney Lee, Tony Battie and Rafer Alston will give the team some depth, but by having Devin Harris as their only all-star caliver next season won't be prosperous for this team.
Coming In: Tony Battie, Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams
Coming Out: Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson
Still Free Agents: Maurice Ager


Boston Celtics: This team filled with 7 players over the age of thirty is not looking for a long term solution, but a quick fix to have a shot at the Larry O'Brien Trophy and that's exactly what they're getting by singing the thirty-four year old, Rasheed Wallace, who bring in more defensive toughness than the team already has and a versatile center. If somehow the "Celtic Trio" (never going to call them the big three) or Rasheed Wallace manage to stay healthy all season and playoffs, then they might have a shot at being a better team than last year.

Most sport writers are kissing up to Danny Ainge for this mediocre move.....I never will. I declare the Celtic's off season a failure and this will be seen in the long run (next season).

Players Coming In: Rasheed Wallace, Lester Hudson *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Gabe Pruitt
Free Agents (most likely coming out): Lean Powe, Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore

Miami Heat: Lots and lots of rumor about the team like Odom coming over (he has now re-signed with the Lakers) and even some rumors about Carlos Boozer being a Heat, nevertheless those were just rumors. Now that the team is over the cap space they should target some of the remaining free agents like Tinsley or Iverson, but Pat Riley has just waited too long and has brought the organization in to mediocrity (giving Magloire a new contract isn't exactly being an active GM).

Careless moves like trading a first round pick for Ricky Davis are coming back to haunt Riley and soon enough Wade will want to be traded. The Heat will be fighting for the 8th seed next season and
might get it with a healthy O'neal and determined Wade.
Players Coming In: Robert Dozier *unsigned draft pick*, Patrick Beverely *usigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Jamario Moon Still Free Agents: Luther Head



Atlanta Hawks: Jamal Crawford?! Jamal Crawford?! Is that really the best player you could get Rick Sund? Really? A player who has a low shooting percentage, plays no defense and turnover the ball more than 2 time per game. Is that the best Rick Sund could do? Even though having a core of Bibby, Smith, Horford and Johnson is superber, the addition of Crawford will do more harm than good. You have to give it to Sund for finding a way to getting rid of his junk and getting an "okay" NBA player. Still don't think it's the right move for the Hawks. Apart from this trade things have been quite in Atlanta.
Players Coming In: Jamal Crawford, Robert Dozier
Players Coming Out: Solomon Jones, Speedy Claxton, Acie Law)
Still Free Agents: Mario West, Marvin Williams, Ronald Murray, Othello Hunter, Thomas Gardner


Milwaukee Bucks: This team has taken a step back from last year by losing two of their main players, Villanueva and Jefferson and in return have done very little to make the team better. In return for sending Jefferson to the Spurs the Bucks got Bowen (waived), Kurt Thomas and Oberto (waived), so at the end of the day to have more cap space all they get is Thomas who is a veteran big man who has been fighting injuries the last couple of years. I wouldn't call this an amazing trade at all.

The Bucks got two players from the 2009 draft, first one was Jennings at the 10th pick was a steal since he is a point guard with a lot of potential and with more experience than your average freshman out of college as he has played for one year at Roma Lottamatica (this is a new trend that I think many players will follow). The second player is Jordan Meeks a senior shooting guard out Kentucky who could be a good back up for Redd. The latest and best move that the Bucks have done is singing free agent, Hakim Warrick, who is an athletic small forward that can even play power forward at times. These teams hasn't gotten much better and overall has had a mediocre off season.

Player Coming In: Amir Johnson, Brandon Jennings, Kurt Thomas, Hakim Warrick, Jodie Meeks
Players Coming Out: Charlie Villanueva, Richard Jefferson
Still Free Agents: Damon Jones, Ramon Sessions, Keith Bogans



Charlotte Bobcats: Is this the year for the Bobcats? After 5 seasons of being an expansion team will they be able to make the right moves to become a playoff team? The answer unfortunately for basketball fans in Charlotte seems to be no. The main reason for this unsuccessful off season for the teams "meh" off season is the swap of Okafor for Chandler. Both players are the same age and bring in around the same amount of production, the only difference is that Okafor has a 5 year contract while Chandlet has a 2 year contract. Now this is good for the Bobcats except that they would have to pay Chandler a million more than they would have payed Okafor. Another downside of this trade is that Okafor has played 82 games in the last two seasons while Chandler has been dealing with many injuries, so the winners of this trade turn out to be New Orleans, also get this Okafor has been one of the three players along with Duncan and Howard to have averaged a double double in the last five seasons (Chandler has only done that once in his career).

The only other move that this team has done is drafting Derrick Brown, a small forward who didn't put up big numbers in his three years of college and probably won't put up big numbers in the NBA. I really liked this team after they traded Richardson to the Suns, but now it seems like the playoff hopes that the fan had by making the right moves is gone.

Players Coming In: Tyson Chandler, Derrick Brown,
Players Coming Out: Emeka Okafor, Sean May
Still Free Agents: Raymond Felton, Juwan Howard, Sean Singletary, Cartier Martin