Recent Moves Have Not Shaken Up the NBA's East as Much as You Think

The start of the NBA's annual free agency period has certainly brought more than enough news for guys like me to analyze. 

As we wait for the dust to settle, and see what might happen with the likes of Lamar Odom, Jason Kidd, Marcin Gortat (and even David Lee), I'm absolutely blown away by prospect of watching next season's playoffs—particularly in the Eastern Conference.

The first move made in the east was for Orlando to trade for Vince Carter.  This trade was the first blockbuster move of the recent past, and likely sparked a great deal of the moves that followed. 

After being told by Turkoglu that he will not be resigning with Orlando, the Magic were certainly forced to make a move—I'm just not sure they did what was best for their team.  At the end of the day, Vince not only has to replace Hedo, but also the players he was traded for—Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie. 

While I'm sure he won't be expected to play defense on the block like Battie was known for, the cost of bringing him in was high—and the expectations will be similarly high.  In a league where depth means everything, trading away a great deal of that depth makes very little sense to me. 

At the end of the day, Gortat is likely moving on, Hedo has reportedly signed with Toronto, and the point guard who brought the Magic to the NBA finals is suiting up in a Nets uniform. I just don't believe that the Magic have made themselves any better so far this off season.

Cleveland was the next elite Eastern Conference team to act, trading Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns for the well known Shaquille O'Neal.  This move has sparked much debate on blogs across the web, including BR, as to how the presence of both Shaq and Lebron on the court will work for the Cavaliers.

I believe that a low post presence like Shaq alongside a slashing and shooting threat like Lebron can only mean good things for the Cavs.  That being said, the Celtics with KG, Pierce, and Allen would still have been a considerable challenge for the Cavs—with or without Shaquille. 

The word is that the Cavs will not be bringing Varejao back, which makes me wonder what might come next.  Keeping Big Z as the league's most expensive backup center doesn't make a whole lot of sense. At the same time, lining up Z and Shaq at the same time doesn't seem like the best idea, either. 

Despite the fact Z has been in Cleveland his whole career, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Cavs work to deal him to a team that's looking to clear some cap space for the summer of 2010 (when Z's contract expires). 

Of course, the Cavs could always use the space, but I don't think cap space is a real issue when resigning your own player—and they should stand to offer LeBron more money than anyone, either way.

Still, you need a solid power forward on any successful team, and the Cavs don't have one.  This is a problem that needs to be solved before the tip off of the '09-'10 season.

This brings me to the Celtics, as the last of the Eastern Conference elite. 

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