It is late August. Everyone is on vacation. The NBA is quiet as a churchmouse. If you want to watch live basketball, you have to settle for Eurobasket qualifying and familiarize yourself with the likes of Iceland, Belgium, Belarus and Ukraine. Not much to do except look back over the past six weeks and cast judgment on all 30 NBA teams for their offseason moves. And lordy, lordy, there have been a ton of them. For a list of every team’s offseason moves,
NBA OFFSEASON REPORT CARDS (Click here for Part I) Mark Cuban counting the number of championships he has won DALLAS MAVERICKS – Mark Cuban will not be raising Jason Kidd’s jersey to the rafters any time soon. He thought he had a deal in place – only to see Kidd bolt for the brighter lights of Madison Square Garden. This is a team that will be treading water all season, then looking to make a splash in free
NBA OFFSEASON REPORT CARDS. Click here for Part I and here for Part II. Donnie Walsh is back at the helm for the Indiana Pacers INDIANA PACERS – Donnie Walsh is back, Larry Bird is gone, Roy Hibbert is staying, and – lest anyone forget – they had the Heat down 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals (reminder: Dwyane Wade vs. Erik Spoesltra). Darren Collison, who wasn’t happy after losing his job to George Hill, has been swapped
NBA OFFSEASON REPORT CARDS. Click here for Part I, here for Part II, and here for Part III. Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Hornets NEW ORLEANS HORNETS — They were a punching bag around here, and rightfully so, but did turn it on quite admirably at the end of the season. They have a new owner in Tom Benson who brings more stability than they’ve ever had, they made the wise move of extending coach Monty Williams,
NBA OFFSEASON REPORT CARDS: Click here for Part I, here for Part II, here for Part III and here for Part IV. New Blazers coach Terry Stotts PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS – There will come a time at some point during the season when one of the Vulcan vultures will fly down from Seattle, have a meeting with the coaching staff and front office, after which Neil Olshey, Terry Stotts and Jay Triano – three of the nicest guys
UNDER CONTRACT: F Kevin Durant, G Russell Westbrook, C Kendrick Perkins, G James Harden, G Thabo Sefolosha, G Daequan Cook, F Nick Collison, C Cole Aldrich, G Eric Maynor, F-C Serge Ibaka, G Reggie Jackson, F Lazar Hayward, C Hasheem Thabeet, C Daniel Orton DRAFT PICKS: F Perry Jones FREE AGENTS: G Derek Fisher MOVES: The Thunder were very quiet during the moratorium period. They did sign free agent center Hasheem Thabeet to a two-year deal at less than $2 million. The erstwhile
UNDER CONTRACT: F Ryan Anderson, G Eric Gordon, F Al-Farouq Aminu, F Jason Smith, G Xavier Henry, G Greivis Vasquez, C Robin Lopez, F Hakim Warrick, G Roger Mason, G Brian Roberts DRAFT PICKS: F-C Anthony Davis, G Austin Rivers, F Darius Miller FREE AGENTS: F Lance Thomas MOVES: The Hornets are taking this rebuilding thing very seriously. Before they even began looking at next season’s roster, they created some flexibility for the 2013-14 squad by trading Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza – two starters
UNDER CONTRACT: G Arron Afflalo, F Al Harrington, F Hedo Turkoglu, F Glen Davis, G Jameer Nelson, G J.J. Redick, F Moe Harkless, C Nikola Vucevic, C Gustavo Ayon, G-F Quentin Richardson, G Christian Eyenga, F Josh McRoberts, F Justin Harper, G Ish Smith, G E’Twaun Moore DRAFT PICKS: F Andrew Nicholson, C Kyle O’Quinn FREE AGENTS: None MOVES: After holding firm in his desire to get fair – not equal – value in trading Dwight Howard, new GM Rob Hennigan deserves some criticism. He turned