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NBA On The Back Pages?
Friday, September 15, 2006
It's almost the autumn season and temperatures are falling. Fans are flocking to stadiums and ball is being played around the country. Peyton Manning is throwing touchdown passes left and right and Albert Pujols is swinging for the fences. BUT I STILL NEED MY NBA FIX!!! With training camp around the corner, rookies and veterans alike are gearing up for a highly anticipated 2006-07 NBA season. Deals have been made, there is a new champion, and the All-Star game is headed to "Sin City"? So now I can have a legit reason to go to Vegas? Wait until I tell the wife about this. Let's take a look at a few moves and what each means to certain teams.
Ben Wallace to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls just got a lot better. Wallace is just what Chicago needed. Along with a core of young guards, the Benses (Wallace and Gordon) of the Bulls will carry this team a little further in the post season. Let's not forget the Bulls did show a playoff push before bowing out to the eventual NBA champion Miami Heat in 6 games. They also made a deal to send Tyson Chandler to New Orleans/OKC for PJ Brown and JR Smith. Brown, who is an NBA journeyman, is very complimentary to Wallace in the middle because they are both the same type of scrappy player. Brown may have some mileage on him, but look for those two players to help propel Chicago back to the top in the Eastern Conference. Chicago also secured ex-Mavericks forward Adrian Griffin to a 3-year deal. Griffin, who was the Mavericks top defender in 2005-06, will work well with the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. I'll go out on a limb and say that the Bulls will finish in the top 4 in the East in 2006-07.
Tim Thomas to the Clippers? Good move for the Clips. Thomas does all the intangibles that the Clippers have lacked in past seasons. He showed the nation that he can hit the 3 ball in the clutch and proved his exceptional play on defense by guarding Dirk Nowitzki in the West Finals. Thomas is the type of player that can bring the already versatile Clipper lineup even more flexibility. The Clippers also now have a satisfied point guard in Sam Cassell. The 37 year-old veteran agreed to a 2-year, $13 million contract this summer. Cassell is primarily responsible for the Clippers coming off their best season ever. The man is a proven leader and will help this Clipper team to perhaps a trip to the Conference Finals. LA HAS done the job in wrapping up Cassell and Thomas. Not having Cassell on that team would have been disastrous.
The Hornets are making a little noise as well!! With Tyson Chandler, Rookie of the Year Chris Paul, David West, and newly added Peja Stojakovic, the Hornets are telling the Western Conference that they do exist. The Hornets, who will play home games in an under-construction New Orleans and Oklahoma City, will definitely win some games this upcoming season. The only question I have is will they have what it takes to win enough games to keep pace in a very POWERFUL Western Conference?
The Dallas Mavericks have dealt swingman Marquis Daniels to Indiana in return for Austin Croshere. Daniels signed a big $30 million deal with the Mavs a few seasons ago when Don Nelson was at the helm. Current head coach Avery Johnson didn't play Daniels much last season thus leading to his exit from Big D. Daniels will benefit from this deal because he will get to play in Indiana. Daniels told the local newspapers that he doesn't have any hard feelings against the Mavericks and is looking forward to moving on. Also, with the addition of Croshere current Maverick forward Keith Van Horn doesn't figure to be a part of the Mavericks future plans. Look for Van Horn to be sent packing pretty soon. Croshere will be an upgrade for the Mavs. He will be a key player off the bench and should be a quality replacement for Nowitzki in certain parts of the game. Draft pick Maurice Ager will be key for this team as well. With Griffin gone to Chicago, Ager's defense should help this ball club. I like the moves the Mavs pulled off this off-season. For the rest of the Western Conference, Dallas will still cause a few problems in the league.
Other teams in the league will look to improve as well. The Suns, Lakers, and Bucks have also made a few changes to correct old problems that should help in the future. Milwaukee got younger losing Toni Kukoc to retirement and adding David Noel and Maurice Williams. The Suns still have a young and speedy team and are counting the days until the return of Amare Stoudemire. And did I mention Steve Nash? The Lakers will always refuse to lose, especially with one Kobe Bryant. They've added good guard play with draft pick Jordan Farmer and signed sharpshooter Vladimir Radmanovic. In all, both conferences have good teams who will definitely compete with the Heat to win the title. My question is which team is poised to steal the title from South Beach.
5:13 PM
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