SportingNews - Ranking the Offseason

Ranking the offseason: The Bulls win big
September 28, 2006

Now that Bonzi Wells has chosen a team, and now that Keith Van Horn is the best (ahem) available free agent on the market, it's probably safe to take a look at what has been a most disappointing NBA offseason, a summer of blockbuster trades that weren't. Allen Iverson is still a Sixer, Kenyon Martin is still a Nugget, Corey Maggette is still a Clipper, Rashard Lewis is still a Sonic -- never have I seen so many must-trade players not get traded all at once. If that makes sense.

But, surely, there were teams that did well over the last few months. There were teams that did poorly. And there were teams that didn't do much at all. With that in mind, we begin the monumental task of ranking the offseason, brought to you over the coming days in handy chunks of six. We'll start with the best. Dig in.

1. Chicago. No question, the Bulls paid an awful lot of money for Ben Wallace, landing him for four years and $60 million. But he was the NBA's biggest impact free agent this summer, and for Chicago to be able to pry him out of his Detroit comfort zone (which was a lot less comfortable for him last year), John Paxson had to come up with an impressive number. He did. He was then able to back up that move by swapping Tyson Chandler for P.J. Brown. Chandler may blossom with the Hornets, but it just wasn't happening in Chicago -- he showed no offensive improvement, was too frequently injured and was best used as a seventh man. Dumping his salary while picking up a solid veteran big man was brilliant. Don't forget, too, that the Bulls had a strong draft, picking up future frontcourt stud Tyrus Thomas and swingman Thabo Sefolosha. They also acquired center Martynas Andriuskevicius and small forward Viktor Khryapa, a couple of moves that could help in the future.

2. Houston. It was already a pretty good summer for the Rockets, having traded for Shane Battier and signing Greek guard Vassilis Spanoulis. Those moves added needed depth around Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. This week's bargain-basement addition of Bonzi Wells, though, made this a great summer for the Rockets, who are in win-now mode. The team now has a worthy third option to go with McGrady and Yao (assuming they both stay healthy, which is a must), an option that can force opponents to think twice about double-teams on McGrady. The power forward spot (Juwan Howard, Chuck Hayes, Steve Novak) is still dicey, and they're still counting on Dikembe Mutombo to back up Yao. But this is a huge year for coach Jeff Van Gundy -- given the summer they had, the Rockets should expect 50 wins.

3. New Orleans/Oklahoma City. Much as the Bulls did with Wallace, the Hornets overpaid small forward Peja Stojakovic. And they overpaid feisty guard Bobby Jackson. And they acquired Chandler, who arrives in Oklahoma City already overpaid. But the Hornets added big-name players, something many wondered if George Shinn would be willing to do, especially with his franchise in two-city limbo. The Hornets had a good draft, getting Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons and Marcus Vinicius. David West and Chris Paul still form the young core, but now, with Stojakovic and Jackson, the team has better depth and much more experience. Of course, Stojakovic and Jackson have to stay healthy, which is an issue with each. Stojakovic missed 27 games in the last two years, and Jackson missed 123 in the last four years. If the Hornets fail to make the playoffs, it will likely be because of injuries.

4. Toronto. New general manager Bryan Colangelo went haywire on the transaction meter this summer, but when you're talking about a team that has averaged about 29 wins over the last four years, that's not a bad idea. Nearly all of Colangelo's moves made sense. He brought in speedy point guard T.J. Ford in a deal for redundant big man Charlie Villanueva. He drafted multifaceted Italian big man Andrea Bargnani. He signed high-flying guard Fred Jones and solid European star (and former Bradley great) Anthony Parker. He also signed a couple of tough, versatile European big men, Uros Slokar and Jorge Garbajosa. Giving an extension to franchise cornerstone Chris Bosh, of course, was a no-brainer, but Raptors fans were concerned about whether Bosh would be willing to commit to the team. The Raptors will be a team long on international experience, and Colangelo has to hope this bunch develops the kind of discipline and savvy that European teams often show. The one move I didn't quite get: the trade for Rasho Nesterovic. If the Raptors want to play an up-tempo, fluid game, Rasho is just not their man.

L.A. Clippers. Last year proved that the Clippers can, in fact, succeed while being owned by Donald Sterling. This summer backed it up. The Clippers were able to get Sam Cassell signed to a two-year, $13 million deal, and when Vladimir Radmanovic bolted to the Lakers, the Clippers signed an ample replacement, Tim Thomas. Most shocking: The Clippers did not trade Corey Maggette, who was considered a sure bet to be on the move this summer. There are many contingencies with this team -- coach Mike Dunleavy must keep Maggette happy, Thomas must stay motivated, Cassell must stay healthy and youngsters Shaun Livingston and Chris Kaman must continue to improve. But if those things happen (hold your breath, Clips fans) this team should be considered a dark horse in the championship race. I can't believe I just typed that.

6. Milwaukee. On the flip side of the T.J. Ford trade was Milwaukee, which watched Villanueva score 48 on its home floor in late March. Little wonder G.M. Larry Harris was eager to take Villanueva, who will handle the power forward duties. Meanwhile, Andrew Bogut will be the team's center, after playing forward during Jamaal Magloire's one-year Bucks stint. Magloire seems to have brought little in return -- guard Steve Blake and big man Brian Skinner -- but, remember, Skinner had his best year in Milwaukee, when he averaged 10.9 points and 7.3 rebounds in 2003-04. Much of the team's season will rest on whether its point guards, Maurice Williams and Charlie Bell, can fill in adequately for Ford, but one of the hidden truths of this team is that it is sitting on some exciting young talent that it has collected low in the draft. I'd expect David Noel to contribute this year, and keep an eye on Damir Markota, a second-round pick who has first-round talent, but had difficulty overcoming a bad reputation he forged a few years ago when he had some bad pre-draft workouts. Ersan Ilyasova, too, could blossom -- he was terrific in the FIBA World Championship.

Coming tomorrow: the next batch of offseason rankings.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=132629

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Haha, I knew it. Everyone will be upping our ratings in the offseason rankings. Bonzi was major. We are basically top 3 offseason performers with Battier, Bonzi, and V-Span coming in.