So he is still saying that Denver won the offseason. Sure, Miami got Shaq and D. Jones, Houston got TMac, Howard, Mutombo, and Sura and San Antonio made a bigger-than-it-may-seem move by signing Barry. More important, though, is tha Denver signed Kenyon Martin AND Greg Buckner (yes, adding scrub Buckner is very big in Stein's mind). Oh yeah, and them overpaying to re-sign Mr. Glass was good for Stein as well. Max number of games Buckner has played in a season: 75 Max for Camby: 72 Number of years, outside of the 75 game season Buckner has played 50 or more games: 1 (out of 4 seasons) For Camby: 4 (out of 7) So, KMart with his career numbers of 15 and 7.6 (and he has averaged 70 games per) is better than Shaq or TMac? Link
I can see how it makes sense in this regard: Miami and Houston had bigger acquistions, but they paid out in talent to make them. Talent-wise, Denver improved for free. They lost none of last year's strength in order to add KMart (he also probably overvalues KMart, but that's a different point).
Denver has been out of the landscape for so long that when they can retain and obtain quality players they have to be noticed. Kudos to Kiki, he's done wonders for that franchise. Plus, lest we forget, Denver (like Utah) possesses a great home court advantage.
The biggest winner of the ofseason, IMHO, was the Jazz. I personally feel they had the best draft, and adding Boozer will be huge for their roster. Okur.....eh. Keeping Arroyo was surprisingly unheralded. If they ink AK47 to an extension, they're back to being a lock for the playoffs for the rest of the decade. Houston doesn't get many nods for the offseason, simply because they didn't overspend for name player FAs. Of course, all they did after the McGrady trade was bring in system guys that will help the team more than a Troy Hudson would have. Go Figure. Worst Offseason (besides the Lakers): Indiana Pacers. Seriously, what did they do besides get pennies for the dollar in the Jackson-Harrington trade?). Carlisle and Bird both said they wanted to rework the roster after the Detroit series, but have been striking out all summer. Evan
My vote would go to the Kings. Vlade was the glue to that locker room. And now they got a disgruntled Peja. Not good times in Sac-town.
Good post. They've offered Artest for every other 'superstar' on themarket, why not Baron Davis? Rockets -- 'not many nods'? This team's revamp has been excellent. If they can exchange a superfluous 4 for a rotation player then MANY NODS. Even without that this is a better squad.
'not many nods' was referring to the media types, not me personally. That wasn't made clear, sorry. Probably should have said "Houston hasn't recieved many nods" Evan
I agree with you there. They seem like they added the perfect Jazz player in Humphries while their other pick (can't remember name) has a ton of athleticism and talent (though he seemed shot happy in the summer leagues). Both Carlos Arroyo and Boozer probably benefited from Olympic play and are both smart players. I honestly wasn't as sold on Arroyo but am starting to be convinced. The one factor that makes it ok from a Rocket's fan perspective. They still don't have a dominant interior post player - I am very impressed by both AK47 and Boozer on the inside, but it seems like they still need either something more at the center spot or more of a true superstar before they will be championship ready.
Well, they didn't give anything up other than tons of capspace...but I guess I see your point. Still, even if a team gives up something, if what they get back is far superior, then who cares? In other words, the Heat went from a chance at making the playoffs to a chance at going to the Finals. Denver might end up in the same position in the standings. KMart and Nene seem to be fairly interchangeable. They gained depth, but not a difference maker. I meant to include the Jazz as well. Outside of Okur, they did a great job.
