Post by sunsgm on Apr 4, 2013 13:15:20 GMT -5
Many of us probably don’t remember but at the beginning of the offseason the Celtics were reeling. They had just lost their star player Paul Pierce to a very unexpected retirement and their only real rotation player left was young point guard Brandon Knight. The Celtics acted quickly in free agency signing potentially the best young player available in center Andrew Bynum. They paid a high price signing him for 5 years 90million but this was a great signing for them as Bynum is only 24 and will fit in well with their young pg. However the Celtics weren’t done as they signed some veteran players with a lot of game left. They were able to sign small forward Rashard Lewis and Shooting Guard Manu Ginobili to a 2 year deals for only a combined 25.5million. The Celtics definitely made themselves better and now boast a starting lineup of Knight Ginobili Lewis Boozer and Bynum. This team is looking like a playoff game next year.
Andrew Bynum is the Big Signing for Boston
Coming into the offseason the suns had holes at pg and power forward. They also had to worry about star small forward Josh Smith resigning, but they had a lot of cap room. All that cap room disappeared though when they made a huge move trading the recently drafted Tim Hardaway Junior a 1st round pick in 2014 and a 2nd round pick in 2014 for star small forward Danny Granger Center Nene Hilario and Small Forward David Bertans. The in separate deals the suns traded Nene Bertans Joe Johnson Phil Pressey a 2014 1st rounder and a 2016 2nd rounder to the Hawks for Jeremy Lamb and a 2016 2nd rounder. This allowed the suns to add point guard Damien Lillard and shooting guard Tyreke evans in free agency. With new faces coming to Phoenix they then were able to resign their own free agents Josh Smith, Earl Clark, Nikola Pekovic, and Ramon Sesssions. Overall the Suns are going to be in debt but they are going all in for a championship and have gotten better this offseason.
Danny Granger came to Suns in a big trade
3. Rockets Land Kobe and ZBO
Oh what could have been for the rockets! They were able to sign Brandon Jennings to an offer sheet this offseason only to have the Bucks match at the last minute. While this was not ideal the Rockets regrouped and they were able to sign the best player in free agency and the league’s leading scorer in Kobe Bryant. But the Rockets weren’t done there as they signed power forward Zach Randolph to a very manageable contract. Overall they gained 61.5ppg between their two signings and they have done a very nice job revamping their team with a starting lineup that includes 4 new players.
In something no one thought was possible Kobe is a Rocket
The hawks were one of the more active teams this offseason and the reason can be summed up in two words..Al Jefferson. Having given up their franchise player in Al Horford for Jefferson last offseason they knew they need to keep him around past this year. When Jefferson voiced his displeasure with the team and likelihood that he wouldn’t resign the hawks made a bunch of moves to try and convince him to stay. The first move was drafting Trey Burke who is a promising young player and may get the nod to start at pg. The second move was resigning defensive beast Andrei Kirilenko to a 3 year extension. The hawks then moved quickly to make Jefferson happy. They acquired Center Nene to make sure they could offer Jefferson the chance to play his natural position of power forward. They then got shooting guard Joe Johnson in a Trade with Phoenix and signed one of the league leaders in assists in Raymond Felton to play point guard. They now have an imposing front line of Dirk Jefferson and Nene and a wing scorer in Johnson that can take the pressure off of Dirk and Jefferson. Overall this team is looking like a playoff team next year.
Joe Johnson Was Brought In to Help Jefferson and Dirk
5. Kevin Love moves to Indy
Kevin Love is a top 5 player in the league (I know first-hand as he murdered my team in the playoffs last year). But when the new spurs gm took over he made it clear that he was not a fan of Loves defensive abilities. Indy capitalized as they were able to acquire Love from the Spurs for center roy hibbert and small forward devin ebanks. This was one of many moves for the Pacers this offseason as they also acquired small forward Luol Deng from the Heat and signed Amir Johnson and Andray Blatche. With a lineup of Rajon Rondo JR Smith Luol Deng Love and Serge Ibaka the Pacers are looking like a power in the east. This was a very productive offseason for them and they may not be done as they tried to amnesty Luol Deng so they may be clearing enough cap space to pursue another free agent!
Kevin Love Will Look to lead the Pacers
6. Miami Reloads
Perhaps in the biggest surprise of the offseason Miami absolutely owned the offseason. First they were able to pull off a very underrated trade in dealing chris bosh Al Faruq Aminu and a 2013 1st rounder to the bulls for Joakim Noah and Luol Deng. This is a great trade for them as Noah is a legit center and he provides rebounding and defense with Faried to form an imposing big man duo. In some-what of a weird move they then shipped deng to the pacers for tristian Thomspson. But then all was revealed when they produced the shocker of the offseason and signed free agent point guard John Wall to a maximum deal. For a team that already had Lebron James adding Joakim Noah John Wall and Tristian Thompson while only giving up Chris Bosh and Aminu is a very successful offseason. They now have a starting lineup of Wall Lebron Danillo Faried and Noah. This is a great team and may have done enough to keep them as the class of the east despite the great moves by challengers Indiana and Atlanta.
I still cant believe John Wall is a member of the Heat
Overall it has been a very active offseason and is shaping up to be a great season!
