Wheelin' and Dealin': NBA Free Agents Hit the Jackpot

As the balance of power slowly shifts back to the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic had to make their move to stay competitive with Boston and Cleveland and pulled off a blockbuster deal with the Nets by landing Vince Carter.

This is certainly a "swing for the fences" deal because they did lose their best young guard (Courtney Lee) for an aging, albeit effective, veteran in VC. This deal would have been even sweeter for the Magic had they been able to hold on to Turkoglu, but alas they could not afford him and Hedo opted to spend his days in the international friendly city of Toronto, giving the Raptors an impressive starting five consisting of Jose Calderon, Shawn Marion, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, and Andrea Bargnani.

As if winning the NBA championship and retaining Kobe Bryant in the offseason wasn't enough, the Lakers have gone ahead and added Ron Artest to an already scary good Lakers team that at this point has to be the clear cut favorite to repeat as champions.

Although they did lose Trevor Ariza (a vital part of their championship run), who signed with the Rockets, they replaced him with the more than capable Artest. Not only did they sign Artest, they also got Jackson to agree to stay on as head coach for at least one more year, showing that they aren't done yet.

The only question with Artest will be whether or not he will fit in on this Lakers team, as Kobe and Ron-Ron have had some well documented altercations in the past, but I believe he will tone it down and be a real asset to the Lakers.

Some more minor moves occurred around the NBA as well:

• Jamal Crawford to the Hawks (Speedy Claxton and Acie Law going to the Warriors)
• Randy Foye and Mile Miller to the Wizards (Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov to the Timberwolves)

Some other notable free agents, such as Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom, and Jason Kidd, decided to stay put and wait a few more years before testing out the free agency waters again. Others, such as David Lee, Allen Iverson, and Nate Robinson are still waiting for the July 15th deadline to see where they will end up next season.

Now that we have gone over all of the major moves to this point in the NBA free agency, I will rank the best starting five in the league ON PAPER and include my incredibly premature predictions for the 2009-2010 season.

Keep in mind, the following are only MY PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (using the five best players on a team, and many will probably change because as we know, NBA coaches love messing around with their starters), and of course I am assuming that everyone will stay healthy, which we also know will never happen, but it makes this more fun.

1. Lakers—Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
2. Spurs—Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner
3. Celtics—Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett
4. Magic—Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard
5. Cavaliers—Mo Williams, Delonte West, Lebron James, Anderson Varejao, SHAQ
6. Nuggets—Chauncey Billups, JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Nene
7. Mavericks—Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier
8. Raptors—Jose Calderon, Shawn Marion, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani
9. Jazz—Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur
10. Pistons—Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell
11. Heat—Mario Chalmers, Dwayne Wade, Michael Beasley, Jermaine O'Neal, Udonis Haslem
12. Hawks—Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith, Al Horford
13. Hornets—Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic, Mo Peterson, David West, Tyson Chandler
14. Thunder—Russel Westrbook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic
15. Blazers—Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, Lamarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden
16. Wizards—Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, Mike Miller, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood
17. Bulls—Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah
18. Clippers—Eric Gordon, Baron Davis, Blake Griffin, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman
19. Knicks—Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler, Al Harrington, David Lee
20. Rockets—Aaron Brooks, Trevor Ariza, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Luis Scola
21. Suns—Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa, Jason Richardson, Amare Stoudemire, Robin Lopez
22. Warriors—Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Corey Maggete, Anthony Randolph, Andris Biedrins
23. Bobcats—Raymond Felton, Raja Bell, Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, Emeka Okafor
24. Grizzlies—Mike Conley, OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, Hasheem Thabeet
25. 76ers—Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Samuel Dalembert
26. Nets—Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Keyon Dooling, Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez
27. Bucks—Ramon Sessions, Brandon Jennings, Michael Redd, Bruce Bowen, Andrew Bogut
28. Pacers—TJ Ford, Danny Granger, Jarrett Jack, Troy Murphy, Jeff Foster
29. Timberwolves—Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn, Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love, Al Jefferson
30. Kings—Bobby Jackson, Kevin Martin, Tyreke Evans, Andres Nocioni, Spencer Hawes

PREDICTIONS:
Western Conference Finals: Lakers over Spurs in seven
Eastern Conference Finals: Cavs over Celtics in six
Finals: Cavs over Lakers in seven

Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin
MVP: Lebron James

There was no reason or rhyme to those predictions, I just have some sort of gut feeling in July that this year Lebron will prove to Cleveland that he can in fact win a title, and then move on and bring his glory to New York (wishful thinking, I know...but a fan can dream!).

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