Off-season survivors in the NBA
After this summer's free agency market in the National Basketball Association, it was easy to figure out who the winners and losers were. What’s more interesting are the teams that are survivors. These are teams that were always in contention and have managed to remain that way despite roster changes. Here are this off-season’s most exciting survivors:
Utah Jazz: Everyone expected the Jazz franchise to be ruined after the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trailblazers mercilessly raided their roster. The Bulls signed away power forward Carlos Boozer and swingman Kyle Korver. The Blazers offered Wesley Matthews a super front-loaded contract the Jazz could not match. This meant that the Jazz had just lost three of their best eight players, including the leading scorer (Boozer).
Yet somehow, the Jazz came out of the off-season just as strong as when they entered. Utah somehow acquired Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Al Jefferson for almost no payment. Jefferson fills up Boozer’s position and can even help alleviate the void left by Mehmet Okur’s Achilles injury if started at centre with Paul Millsap at power forward.
The Jazz also got back former player Raja Bell and drafted Gordon Haywood to give themselves strong wings. Though they won’t be as offensive as Matthews and Korver, Bell is a gifted defender, and the duo saves the Jazz a lot of money. Instead of being ravaged, Utah remained the same franchise it was, and with Andrei Kirilenko’s $17 million deal expiring next season they will be in a position to really spend.
Boston Celtics: After giving up a heartbreaking Game 7 NBA Finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics organization was actually in quite dire straits. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Nate Robinson and Tony Allen were all entering free agency. Rasheed Wallace was retiring, and coach Doc Rivers was considering the same. To top it off, big-man Kendrick Perkins was expected to miss a large portion of the 2010-11 season.
Rather than having the roster fall apart, the Celtics will be back to compete for supremacy in the Eastern Conference against the Miami Heat. They signed Jermaine O’Neal as their midlevel exception to replace Perkins and give them down-low force. Ray Allen, Pierce, and Robinson easily agreed to terms to maintain roster stability and coach Doc Rivers is returning.
Perhaps most interesting is that the Celtics are in a position to strengthen themselves even further. They have Wallace’s contract still on the books, and can convert that into a strong supporting player if they find a team looking to dump a contract. Additionally, all the veteran contracts are now set to expire at the same time in two years, which will allow the Celtics to rebuild on their own terms after two serious runs with an aging roster.
Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets wanted to build heavily in the off-season but started off slow with every offer they made being rejected. To make matters worse, both Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen were suffering from knee injuries that could take them out of the equation even into the season.
They then managed to formulate a very smart contract with Al Harrington which gave their frontcourt an immediate boost. Harrington isn’t as good defensively as what the Nuggets needed, as shown by them trying to get Jermaine O’Neal, but he creates an entirely new style of play for the Nuggets. Star Carmelo Anthony has never played with a floor-spacing big man and having extra room could allow Anthony to be an even more dominant scorer.
The Nuggets also wisely signed Shelden Williams to a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum. The team could fall apart if Anthony leaves after next season, but for now they have survived better than anyone had anticipated.
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