NBA Offseason: Winners and Losers Part I

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It's been a wild few weeks of offseason activity in the NBA, so which GMs and team presidents are pushing all the right buttons? Who is making things worse for their respective organizations? Who is sleeping at the wheel?

Well, let's see...

The Winners

Boston Celtics: They haven't made a ton of transactions or thrown money around in a number of different directions, but Danny Ainge made one perfect maneuver:

Signing Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed is a PERFECT fit for Boston, given their current personnel. 'Sheed gives the Celtics a second top-tier post player alongside Kevin Garnett, and he complements KG's offensive game because he'll often spend time spacing the floor beyond the three-point stripe.

So while KG's down on the block goin' to work, Sheed can spread to the corner or wing to open things up in the lane. KG can either take advantage of that spacing to play one-on-one, or he can draw the double and kick it to Rasheed. 

'Sheed is also an experienced postseason player with both the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers, and you can be sure that Doc Rivers' team will return to the postseason in '09-10. Despite being called "lazy" and "brash" in the past, Wallace is, in fact, a highly UNSELFISH teammate.

He's often been called TOO unselfish, but that's something that won't be a problem with shots to go around for Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo as well. The fact that Rasheed is willing to defer to teammates depending on the situation, only helps Boston's potential continuity as a unit. 

The only problem for the Celtics right now is...did Ainge piss off Allen and Rondo with the trade rumors involving the Pistons? Are the two guards now discontented?

That remains to be seen, but Allen is generally a consummate professional. I'm sure he'll come to play. Rondo, on the other hand, is still on the immature side. It will be interesting to see how he responds to the organization's comments including the word "uncoachable." Hmm. 

Cleveland Cavaliers: This one's almost by default. Danny Ferry has been active, and he's gained superior players to the ones he's dumped. But that DOESN'T mean that they've improved enough to win the NBA championship.

If both the Celtics and Cavs remained healthy throughout the upcoming season, I'd say the Celtics would have the better chance to win it all. Especially considering the way they play defense with Garnett active and on the floor. Add Rasheed's defensive experience to that mix, too. 

But back to Cleveland. By this point many of us already know that Ferry traded Ben Wallace, a second-round pick, and "cash considerations" to the Phoenix Suns for Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq looked pretty sharp last year, better than he did the previous season, but is he THE answer for Cleveland? Does he really take them over the top?

Is he THAT much better than Zydrunas Ilgauskas at this stage in both of their careers? Will he make THAT much of a difference?

These are all questions that will have to be answered during the upcoming season. However, I believe the answer to most of those questions will be, "No."

Shaq's still one of the better centers in the league—in large part because it's a weak position talent-wise—but there's no guarantee of harmony with LeBron James.

On a personal level, sure. But basketball wise, Shaq's been known to clog things up and slow an offense down to a halt. This is old-age Shaq, I'm talking about. Could he hinder LeBron's development in some way?

Sure. It's a possibility. 

Let's not forget that the Cavs also added swingman Anthony Parker, a very reliable outside shooter with an excellent team attitude. Savvy move there. 

Dallas Mavericks: Re-signing Jason Kidd makes more sense with Shawn Marion in the picture. When Mark Cuban was talking about bringing Kidd back BEFORE the Marion trade, I was scratching my head (depending on the size of the contract, obviously).

But Dallas sent Antoine Wright and Devean George to the Toronto Raptors for Marion—who had a bit of a lost season last year—and then followed up with Kidd to complement "The Matrix."

What Marion does, though, is bring new life to this Maverick unit. I feel like I've been seeing the Dirk Nowitzki-Josh Howard-Jason Terry show for centuries now. It wasn't working out with just them and Kidd or his predecessor Devin Harris (man, they'd love to have him back).

But Marion brings a new element.

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