Who Else Can't Wait Until The NBA Becomes Competitive Again?

This past NBA offseason was a strange one. I found a rumor of the Cavaliers proposing Wally Szczerbiak to the Nets for Vince Carter. I actually found myself thinking that this was a terrible deal for the Cavs.

Trust me, I know who these guys are as a Celtics fan. I had to witness nearly two years of Szczerbiak's inconsistency as he was the second scoring option on my beloved team.

I had to endure Carter dominating the Celtics on the Raptors and Nets. He made everything look so easy as he'd dunk over Mark Blount as if dunking over a seven foot NBA player was a lesson learned with talking, walking, and using a toilet.

So how did this trade have any credability? You know why.

Szczerbiak's $13 million comes off the books after this season. Carter's deal expires in the offseason of 2011. In the past year, NBA general managers have been salivating over expiring deals as though these players were superstars.

They are superstars. Indirectly. In 2010, the following players will be on the open market: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Ray Allen, Josh Howard, Amare Stoudemire, Manu Ginobili, and Jermaine O'Neal.

Suddenly GM's have become desperate to create cap space to sign one of the players of what should be one of the NBA's deepest free agent classes ever. What would you do for LeBron James?

Would you trade Mo Williams and make Luke Ridnour your point guard?

This trade would make no sense for the Bucks if there weren't a salary cap. Ridnour isn't a very good shooter, defender, or passer. Really all he's proven is that he can dribble a basketball. The Bucks need a point guard who can open up the court for Michael Redd so that Redd's inconsistencies can be made up for. Williams was a very good young point guard who was a great shooter, but he was sent off within the division.

Should the Bucks care that they just helped deliberately helped the Cavs? No. Because two years of suffering will be worth signing a superstar, right?

This also makes the Bucks look kind of stupid for acquiring Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. Practically nothing, but Jefferson's deal expired the year after the magical offseason of 2010. Really makes you wonder what these GM's are thinking.

How about closing your chances at a championship for Allen Iverson's contract?

I'm sure you heard about the Pistons trading Chauncey Billups for Iverson. There were others too, but lets focus on Billups. A year ago, Billups was given a four year contract with a fifth year team option. This solidified Billups as the franchise player.

Nevermind. The Pistons recently decided that cap space is more important. Iverson's deal expires after this season, giving the Pistons $21 million off the books. In two years, the Pistons have only one player signed, Tayshaun Prince.

The Pistons had a nearly perfect team for the past five years, making the finals twice and winning it all once. The core of the team was aging, but they still managed to finish second in their conference last year. They lost a pass first point guard who fit perfectly with the team and now they get a year of a ballhog who defends doesn't know the meaning of "defend with your feet." Don't you feel happy, Pistons?

I'll admit that Marcus Camby isn't that good, but this is ridiculous.

It was only a couple months ago that even the Nuggets were interested in cap space. Camby was traded to the Clippers for the option to exchange second round picks in 2010. Have you heard of anything like this?

Camby isn't that great, but he's effective. He's a great rebounder and a pretty good weakside helping defender. Definitely worth more than this. This is the kind of trade I'd expect in a baseball independent league. What's next? Chris Paul to the Rockets for $4 and a trip to Disney World?

I don't know about you people, but I can't wait until the offseason of 2010. It should completely change the NBA. It will be an exciting offseason.

Do you know why it will truly be exciting? Because more NBA teams will actually try to put a good team on the court.

There are good free agents every offseason. Not as many as this one, but you can still find a superstar if you feel like getting one. Nope. NBA fans will just have to wait until their team starts trying.

This is only the beginning of these one-sided deals. We should see many more next year. My belief is that the worst GM's are the ones who make deals that don't even make sense at the time. That should be half the GM's in the NBA in the next two years.