OTR Basketball Roundtable: As the Season Nears

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Every NBA off-season seems to last twice as long as it should, especially when June and July are stained with multiple trade rumors, an interesting draft class, and uncertainty concerning a superstar's health.

Fortunately, the NBA fans are smelling pre-season basketball, as rosters are being trimmed or developed, jerseys are changing, and Allen Iverson has cut his list of potential suitors down to four or five teams.

So what does all of this mean to OTR Basketball? It means it's time for a roundtable article, and there's no better way to start the discussion than to mention those off-season transactions that have had us talking, and sometimes scratching our heads, for weeks.

1) What team(s) would you say have had the most successful off-season, and why?

Yama Hazheer: Orlando Magic. They added Vince Carter, who is a better player than Hedo Turkoglu. He has also never had a chance to work with a big man of Dwight Howard's caliber. It should help both of them greatly. Not only that, but they added a young forward in Brandon Bass, who will help rebound, and they re-signed Marcin Gortat.

The Lakers did well also by adding probably the best defender in the league in Ron Artest, and re-signing Odom. The Spurs added Richard Jefferson without losing any key members of the team.

Dannie Haynes: This offseason, it appears that the teams at the top, such as Boston, Cleveland, Lakers, Orlando, and San Antonio, found a great deal of success, and out of that group I would have to say Orlando was the most successful, because they made the most dramatic overhaul. The other teams simply added one or two pieces to get better, where Orlando made three or four significant changes.

Overall though, I feel that of all the teams in the NBA, the team that improved the most from the end of last year to the beginning of this year would have to be the Toronto Raptors. The differences are astounding when looking at the team before and after.

There are only three players, four if you count the soon to be traded Marcus Banks, still on the team, and with the addition of Turkoglu, the Raptors have a fairly strong front five. The bench is greatly improved, which should allow the starters to rest, knowing they can hold the fort.

Sean Bafaro: The San Antonio Spurs. Heading into the off-season, the Spurs looked like they would finally relinquish their title as an elite Western Conference team.

They were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks in five games and although they were suffering from injuries, they simply did not look like the Spurs of old. They relied way too much on the terrific trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to carry them.

However, after making the trade for Richard Jefferson and signing Antonio McDyess, the Spurs have added two more players to the roster that are capable of stepping up when called upon.

Jefferson is a 20-PPG caliber scorer who, when motivated, can play very solid defense as well. McDyess is a wily veteran who can still give you 10/10 a night while playing strong positional defense.

They also managed to get DeJuan Blair in the second round of the draft, who just may become the steal of the draft. He can provide you with toughness and a tenacious rebounder immediately, and learning under Tim Duncan will only help his game.

They also added veteran center Theo Ratliff to give them a shot blocking, defensive presence off of the bench. Adding these players, along with getting Duncan and Ginobili back healthy, have put the San Antonio Spurs right back among the Western Conference elite and have them in the hunt for another NBA Championship.

Stephen Dyell: The San Antonio Spurs. They added Richard Jefferson to a lineup that I believe was mainly affected by Manu Ginobili`s injury. Adding Antonio McDyess, Theo Ratliff and DeJuan Blair gives the Spurs a flexibity of big men that will be tough to match around the league as they also have Duncan and Bonner as starters.

The Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, Boston Celtics, and Cleveland Cavaliers are a very, very close second though, as all teams took a step up.

Brandon Neal: I have to say the Detroit Pistons improved the most.  They rid themselves of Allen Iverson and added a few solid players, including Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, and Ben Wallace.

In addition to their player acquisitions, they also replaced their head coach. John Kuester was an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season, and ironically, was an assistant when the Pistons defeated the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. 

Spending time under Mike Brown and Larry Brown, and also being a good defensive player at North Carolina and his short tenure in the NBA, Kuester will most certainly preach defense to a team that, just a few years back, found their greatest success riding on their defensive dominance.

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