Power Ranking the 2013 Offseason Moves
The once red headed step child that once was Los Angeles’s “other
team” has stepped into the spotlight, and though they may not have landed the biggest
name this summer, they have added the appropriate talent in 3pt marksman J.J
Reddick and a locker room funnyman and consummate unselfish professional in
Jared Dudley. Resigning all-star point
guard Chris Paul was first on their priority list, and after retaining him
quickly all the Clippers need be concerned about is true big man talent, though
if DeAndre Jordan can become more of an offensive threat as well as increase
his free throw percentage the Clippers will be scary good.
The Dwight Howard war has been won by the team in red! Houston will become home the biggest free
agent name from the 2013 class and this makes them substantially better. Omer Asik was excellent during the 2012-13
season, but the size, power, strength and overall ability that Dwight Howard
brings to the table best all of Asik’s qualities. The only reason the Rockets are not number 1
on this list is because it is yet to be seen how they will potentially move
Jeremy Lin and Asik, who reportedly wants no part in the Rockets organization
as a backup.
The Warriors recently signed forward/guard Andre Iguodala to
a 4 year deal, and though he could have earned more money by staying in Denver
it is clear that at least some of his priorities point toward winning. This is a massive upgrade for the Warriors
who are already slated to have the highest scoring back court in the league in
2013-14 with their snipers Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Iguodala is one of the best defenders in the
league with the speed and ability to defend smaller guards, with these
attributes he will be a perfect fit for what the Warriors are trying to
do.
Yes, the Cavs made this list at #4! They were obviously a
below average team last season but their young star, Kyrie Irving, made the all-star
team as a second year player. They struck
gold by winning the rights to the first pick in the NBA draft and surprised
many by picking Anthony Bennett who had gotten little exposure while in
college. The Cavs bolstered their roster
by adding young forward Earl Clark and seasoned sixth-man Jarrett Jack. Cleveland took a risk in picking up former
all-star and championship winning center Andrew Bynum, who is coming off a
season riddled by injury in which he didn’t play a single game. Cleveland has improved their roster
profoundly, and if all works out as planned, with Anthony Bennett budding as a
possible star in this league and Andrew Bynum receiving the proper treatment
and becoming a contributing player again, the Cavs could be in a position to
make the playoffs.
The Nets’ attempt to blow everybody out of the water is yet
to be seen, but they are adding huge NBA names, if not the talent that those
names are accustomed to putting up. Though
their projected starting lineup of Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Garnett and Lopez
have amassed 35 all-star appearances combined, it seems like, besides for Lopes
and maybe Williams, their best years are behind them. The hype the Nets will receive by putting
this team together will only be rivaled by the coverage they got when facing
Shaq and Kobe in the finals, back when now head coach Jason Kidd was the star
point guard.
After selecting projected #1 overall pick Nerlens Noel sixth
in the draft they quickly flipped him for all-star point guard Jrue Holiday. Holiday is definitely an upgrade for the
Pelicans, who spent their last year as the Hornets with Grevis Vasquez running
the point. With Anthony Davis’s projected growth, it is intelligent to pair
him with Holiday to form a potentially lethal pick and roll combination. Tyreke Evans was also an impressive pickup
for the Pels. The former #4 pick in the
draft has a lot to offer this young roster, and if can increase his overall
game throughout his time in New Orleans he can contribute a lot.
The Pacers mostly improved from within. The resigning of David West was an imperative
move that the Pacers were easily able to pull off, and with the addition of
Danny Granger from injury will prove to substantially improve their team in the
upcoming season. Even if they are able
to move Granger for complimentary pieces, they are probably better off seeing
as the Pacers learned how to win without Granger. The addition of Chris Copeland from the
Knicks add perimeter shooting and additional defense.
With Dirk on a downturn heading
into his retirement the Mavs have resorted to adding smaller talent in Jose
Calderon and Monta Ellis. Calderon,
though underexposed by playing in Toronto then Detroit after a lengthy career
in Spain, is a great point guard in this league. Though not quite elite he has a knack for
triple doubles and is an excellent distributor of the ball. This is excellent because their other “big”
free agent acquisition in Monta Ellis likes to shoot.. A lot. With Dirk likely available for most of the
season if he avoids injury, the Mavs should be in a better position than they
were in last season, and though Monta might have it all, he might not have
enough to propel this team to the playoffs.
The Suns have made very few moves
but of the moves they have made, the move to acquire Eric Bledsoe from the
clippers says a lot about where this franchise is going in the future. After Shaq, then Matrix, the Amar’e, then
Nash left town all that remained was a bust in Beasley and an old Jermaine O’Neal. Eric Bledsoe brings youth, athleticism speed
and skill to the Sums starting lineup, a position that was difficult to crack
in La playing behind Chris Paul.
Bledsoe, combined with Alex Len out of Maryland show that this team is
moving in the right direction and though they won’t be any good this year,
things don’t look so bad for the future.
The Heat have made no outside
moves this offseason, and the only rumblings are that they might pursue Greg
Oden, who may end up being a wasted roster spot. The heat have made some internal moves
though, and those moves will prove to be, and have proven to have been
extremely important. The Heat have
chosen to retain their team option to keep Mario Chalmers on the Squad for at
least another year. The Heat have also
resigned Chris “Birdman” Andersen to a one year deal with an option for the
second year. Ray Allen Opted into his
contract and we all know how important he was to the Heats repeat title run.
Bizzaro Rankings
Although the Bucks signed OJ Mayo
and traded for Luke Ridnour, the amount of “talent” that they lost will prove
to be major. Losing J.J Reddick to the
clippers and Monta to the Mavs have left them with a lame starting lineup. This might be a good year to be bad, as the
2014 draft class proves to be a great one, and everybody knows the city of
Milwaukee and their fans are dying to be relevant again.
Over the course of April until now
the Lakers have lost both Dwight and Kobe, though Kobe is only gone
temporarily. To make up for their losses
the Lakers have picked up Swaggy Nick Young, a far traveled Jordan Farmar, and
question mark Wesley Johnson. Jim Buss
knows that the Lakers need to be bad this season, but since everyone in the
organization is afraid of Kobe they will make moves to make it seem like they
are attempting to win. They aren’t. At all.
It seems every year the thunder
lose a vital piece that makes people question the organization. First it was the harden trade that netted
them Kevin Martin, and now he’s left town and all they are left with is Orlando
summer league Finals MVP Jeremy Lamb, who has yet to seriously prove himself on
an NBA stage. It will be interesting to
see if the Thunder will acquire anyone else to help even out the scoring load,
and if they are going to be any serious force in the west Kevin Durant might
have to take it into his own hands.
