Other than Indiana and Miami, did any team get worse this summer?

Fair list. I would add Brooklyn, with the loss of Pierce and the aging of KG, Williams etc. Did they make any meaningful additions?

Also, Houston at this point, though I'm guessing the front office isn't done dealing just yet.

 

I am going to entertain this question with a list of the western conference by changes that come to my mind. Some may be slight. Some changes may even worsen the team. But if signings and trades go well, my predictions are as follow:

No trade: Spurs, Thunders, Nuggets, Jazz

Improved: Count 8
Clippers- Spencer Hawes,
Blazers- Chris Kaman Steve Blake,
Warriors- Shaun Livingston,
Memphis- Vince Carter,
Mavericks- Tyson Chandler Parson,
Suns- Isiah Thomas (¿Bledsoe?),
Pelicans- Omer Asik,
Lakers- Jeremy Lin Carlos Boozer,

Worsened: Count 1
Kings

Remaining: Minnesota (¿Bledsoe?¿Young?), ¿Rockets?

 

The Mavs definitely got worse. They added two one-way players to their starting roster in Parsons (all offense) and Chandler (all defense). Add to that, their team is getting old every year. Just look at Dirk's rebounding numbers for your evidence.

 

How is losing Lin a plus if we're replacing him with an unknown rookie or (shudder) Jason Terry? Lin may have been overrated by LOF's but he's still an NBA caliber player, that's more than you can say for sure about any of the other PG's we have on the bench.

You also shouldn't downplay the loss of Asik... he was the best player on our bench by far... if we had a "6th man" it was Omer. He was the anchor for and fulcrum of our bench defense.

I agree that Ariza/Parsons is a lateral move though.

 

It seems absurd to me why we give teams credit for making trades just to make them, when in reality the talent level (Livingston) and age (Carter, Chandler, Kaman and Blake) of such pieces calls into question whether having those guys take up a roster spot is even a good thing in the first place.

Seriously. You just listed Steve Blake as a reason for why a team got better.

It's fans and pundits like you who throw crap out there every year like, "Brooklyn added Paul Pierce and Garnett this offseason, they're the Eastern conference FAVORITES!" And were also big fans of Otis Smith acquiring Gilbert Arenas as a show of good faith to Dwight Howard. Or New York giving 100+ million to Amare Stoudemire.

Maybe Daryl Morey should sign Michael Redd just to appease you. Or maybe he's already doing the right thing which is using the back end of his roster to give shots to hungry, talented players about to enter their primes, just to see if anyone can outperform his expectation based on his career to date. For the NBA is a cruel mistress to the aging vet: sooner or later, Father Time will come calling for all those 30+ yo stars on those Western Conference teams. Even the Spurs will feel it one of these years.

 

The Lakers got better because they added Julius Randle who could be a future cornerstone. Additionally, they added Kobe Bryant who they pretty much didn't have last year. Boozer is a downgrade to Pau Gasol, but adding Jeremy Lin makes up for the gap though.

 

There were a couple quotes from Zach Lowe in the last Lowe Post podcast that made me laugh.

Not exactly what he said but pretty close:

If it weren't for Philadelphia, the Lakers would have the worst defense in the NBA next year.

LA and Brooklyn have no roadmap for success in the near future.

 

When Dwight Howard goes down with another injury or just isn't up to being a real 7ft polar bear out there people will notice and cry a shame. When Harden doesn't create a night or couple and Ariza doesn't quite cover his man for him then realizations will start to dawn. Good luck Rockets. You'll need it.

 

For the most part, the teams with the vets are already playoff teams. They have their cornerstone players. How slightly the improvements are, predictable vets are still improvements in that they provide experience and accountability. As you may have notice, I did not include any rookies nor unknown acquisitions.

As for seriousness, this is my prediction. It is your problem for getting heated up. I've never mentioned that these players have to play pass their expectations. And as I've specifically stated, "Some changes may even worsen the team."

Maybe Morey should have tossed the whole for a chance for Lebron. I purposely did not comment on our preseason so far because it has already been scrutinized on. Personally I think it was a bust, but like all the other teams I prefer not to expect the worst and hope that the fit does outweigh all the loss this season.

 

You can achieve better results even with less talent. Happened a lot before and will happen again

 

I just don't think the frontline and or the back court depth is as good.

 

I will withhold judgement for the potential of this team until after the trade deadline. There are definite holes for sure.

That being said, Asik was basically out of the picture until January last season. So, from that perspective you are swapping Chandler/Lin/Casspi for Ariza/Terry/Papa.

 

What has OKC done? Didn't they lose their starting SG?

 

We (rockets) definitely took a step back.

I wonder in terms of talent which supporting cast is worse? Tmac and Yao's supporting casts or Dwight and Harden's current supporting cast?

 

which iteration of T-Mac/Yao are we comparing? There were some bright spots of depth...though short lived. Scolandry? Mount Mutombo? White Boy Super Squad?
Is it easier to linger on the JVG squad with Luther Head as your spark off the bench and chuck wagon as your starting 4?

This team would fall squarely in the middle of that spectrum until proven otherwise

 

Lol, come on man, at least try to be somewhat unbiased.

 

I am not sure of OKC got worse, but they certainly did not get better.

 

We got worse. We had to bring up Daniels from the D-League because we didn't have eight players we felt like we could afford to play in the playoffs. Three of the seven NBA level players we had are gone, and we didn't bother to replace Asik or Lin. Added some players that couldn't have competed with Casspi for playing time. If the NBA doesn't go to a 3 on 3 format this year, we aren't winning any playoff games.