NBA Have a Restart Button? 5 Early Questions Regarding the Offseason
Sure, everyone thought LeBron was selfish and disrespectful for leaving his hometown team to go play with some buddies of his down in South Beach. While questions will always remain around the mega three, here is a look at the top five questions regarding moves that happened in the NBA off-season.
Feel free to debate and while it is early these are some moves that make you wonder, is there a restart button?
#5: LeBron/Bosh to Miami, Only One Should Have Went.
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Even the picture tells it all, they look, confused. We've all heard the critics, the hype, and the comments made by LeBron regarding playing time but seriously what do they expect? With all due respect to both players but when Carlos Arroyo and Mario Chalmers are your point guards and you don't have a young dominant center, your not going very far no matter how many big time players are on your team.
Sure it's early and sure the Heat are finally on a good winning streak but the question always arises, what if one of them would've went somewhere else, ex: LeBron staying in Cleveland? There'd be a lot less hatred towards LeBron and Bosh's production would be up.
Stay tuned..
#4 Only One Works: Did The Celtics Need Both O'Neals?
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Signed to make up for the loss of Kendrick Perkins who is out until at least the All-Star game, both Jermaine and Shaq were signed by the Boston Celtics to stabilize the front court along side Kevin Garnett. So far and nothing new, Jermaine O' Neal has only appeared in seven games, starting five of them and now is out with a knee injury until at least Christmas.
Meanwhile the big Shamrock is averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds while helping Boston obtain the best record in the Eastern conference.
Seems like the bigger and older O' Neal was the smarter signing of the two players as J. O'Neal has always been plagued by injuries throughout his career.
#3 To Early To Move? Darren Collison To Pacers Looks Somewhat Good
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When Chris Paul went out last year with an injury that kept him out for a lengthy time period, Collison stepped in and gave the Hornets a more then formidable fill-in at the point guard position.
As far as things go for Collison he was able to prove his worth to any NBA team and thankfully for the Pacers and a four team trade Collison was able to land on a team that would allow him to win a starting position.
As far as the trade breakdown goes:
The Pacers acquired James Posey and Collison and now sit 10-10 only 2 games back of first place behind the Chicago Bulls.
The New Jersey Nets acquired former Pacer Troy Murphy who has been injured and the Nets find themselves at the bottom of their division at 6-16
The New Orleans Hornets acquired Trevor Ariza and got off to a hot early start and now sit in third place at 14-7 in the Southwest Division which may be the toughest division in the NBA right now with the Spurs running through the league.
The Rockets acquired Courtney Lee who has provided some sort of spark off the bench as Houston goes through injuries.
Was it to early for New Orleans to trade Collison considering the uncertainty of how long Chris Paul will stay with the team? Only time will tell but Collison's point average has risen and he now has the Pacers headed in the right direction
#2 Joe Schmo? Did Atlanta Truly Overpay For Joe Johnson?
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All of the ATL is looking at Johnson from the rear as he now sits on the bench rocking a suit due to injury and not a Hawks uniform. The premier star shooting guard for Atlanta signed what some people called the most insane contract deal in recent years in which he receives $119 million over the next 6 years.
To much?
Way to much! The Hawks scorer has seen his scoring average drop four points from 21 to 17 and will miss a time period of 4-6 weeks due to elbow surgery.
For Johnson who is already 29 years old this deal would have made him one of the more higher paid people at age 35 which is head-shaking due to the fact that power forward Josh Smith and center Al Horford might mean more to the Hawks then JJ.
As of now, this looks like one of the biggest blunders of the NBA off-season.
#1 Trying To Hard? The Bucks and Their Questionable Signings
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The Bucks came in to the season with high expectations as they were the NBA's most surprising team last season. As far as the Bucks making the league "Fear the Deer" there has been no fear on the Milwaukee team besides their own players and acquisitions.
They signed Salmons to a 5 year deal worth $39 million and he has not been the leader or the scoring threat that he was for them last year.
They traded for the Corey Maggette who has been nothing more then a role player off the bench for them and questions arise as to when Maggette can either fill-in for Salmons or play alongside of him.
Finally, the Bucks Drew Gooden signed Drew Gooden to a 5 year deal worth $32 million deal and he has missed time with injuries and hasn't been the front court player that they needed alongside Andrew Bogut to solidify the defense and the front court for the coach Scott Skiles.
With a team that had high expectations and many eyes on them the Bucks seem to be the most disappointing so far in the season.
While it may be early there may not be enough time for many of these teams or players to turn their season around.
As it is early, there is time to improve but one thing is for certain, these five moves, have raised some eyebrows.
