Off-Season Recap – Atlantic Division

Jermaine ONeal joins Bosh

I am going to provide a recap of all the transactions made in the off-season, and give each team a rating based on what they did or did not do to improve.

 

Boston Celtics:

Added – Patrick O’Bryant (Warriors) & Darius Miles (Blazers)

Lost – James Posey (to Hornets), Sam Cassell & PJ Brown

Re-Signed – Tony Allen & Eddy House

Drafted – J.R. Giddens, Semih Erden & Bill Walker

Analysis – 2 Stars. The Celtics didn’t really need to make many changes, but they really didn’t want to lose James Posey since he was such a positive contributor to their playoff success. They will retain the same lineup as last year and have Tony Allen take over the role that Posey played. Keep an eye on Leon Powe, he showed flashes at the end of last year, but it will be hard for him to get consistent minutes playing behind KG. It also doesn’t help them that competition in the East became much tougher.

NJ Nets:

Added – Keyon Dooling (Magic), Eduardo Najera (Nuggets), Jarvis Hayes (Pistons), Yi Jianlian (Bucks) & Bobby Simmons (Bucks)

Lost – Marcus Williams (to Warriors), Richard Jefferson (to Bucks), Bostjan Nachbar (to Dynamo Moscow), Nenad Krstic (to Triumph Moscow)

Drafted – Chris Douglas-Roberts, Ryan Anderson, and Brook Lopez

Analysis – 3 Stars. The loss of Jefferson will hurt in the short term since he is solid on offense and a good defender, but it cleared up some cap space for 2010 and the Lebron Sweepstakes. They had an amazing draft and were able to bring in some new young prospects (Jianlian), and some decent veterans (Najera, Hayes, Simmons). The Nets didn’t want to lose Krstic, and that should be a big blow to them, leaving the team thin at the Center position. Harris and Carter should have good years, but we’ll have to wait and see how the minutes are split at the rest of the positions. Keep an eye on Yi…maybe this is his year?

 

NY Knicks:

Added – Chris Duhon (Bulls) & Patrick Ewing Jr.

Lost – Renaldo Balkman (to Nuggets)

Drafted – Danilo Gallinari

Analysis – 1 Star. The only thing that went right was getting rid of Isiah Thomas, bringing in Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D’Antoni. The problem is that even these new guys have made questionable decisions. The Knicks players do not fit with D’Antoni’s style of play, but maybe their mindset will be changed with the positive attitude of Walsh and D’Antoni. I think Gallinari is a bust, and will not get much playing time. I’m gonna miss Balkman. I loved cheering for that guy at MSG. We still don’t know what is going to happen with Marbury, and whether Zach Randolph will be in a Knicks Jersey come opening day (hopefully not). Duhon is no Steve Nash, but it’ll be interesting to see the kind of numbers he’ll put up. It’s not worth over-hyping him yet. Remember Q-Rich back on the Suns? Imagine that kind of production this year with the return of D’Antoni as his coach. Q-Rich might be a good source of 3’s, but I’m waiting to see how time will be split between him and Wilson Chandler. Monitor both of them closely; Chandler is very athletic, and looked very good at the end of last season.

 

The Brand Man comes to Philly

Philadelphia 76ers:

Added – Elton Brand (clippers), Kareem Rush, Royal Ivey, Theo Ratliff

Re-Signed – Andre Iguodala & Louis Williams

Drafted – Marreese Speights

Analysis – 5 Stars. The Sixers surprised us last year by finishing strong, and are slated to have an even better year this year. Everything went right for them in the off-season. They signed Brand, who will be a force down low with Dalembert, re-signed Iguodala, their franchise player, and strengthened their bench with Rush, Ivey, Ratliff, and Lou-Will. Iggy might play shooting guard allowing Thaddeus Young to strut his stuff at the SF. Keep an eye on him. Miller, Iguodala, Young, Brand, Dalembert – that’s a solid lineup.

 

  

Toronto Raptors:

Added – Jermaine O’Neal (Indiana) &Will Solomon

Lost – T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston and Roy Hibbert (to Indiana)

Re-Signed – Jose Calderon

Drafted – Nathan Jawai & Roko Ukic

Analysis – 4 Stars. The Raptors definitely improved in the off-season with the acquisition of O’Neal and the resigning of Calderon. They lost Ford, who was not really needed because of Calderon. Finally Calderon has nobody to split minutes with and should be a beastly fantasy point guard (Top 5). They should be solid with O’Neal and Bosh down low and Calderon should get plenty of assists to them, but asides from that they are lacking depth. I’m also not sold on O’Neal. He has been unhealthy and is washed up in my opinion.

 

 

If you have any questions or comments, please post below and I’ll gladly tell you my opinion.  Recaps for the other divisions will be up soon, so keep checking back.

-BoxtaBoy