Late October is one of those odd periods, where all four major sports are going on at once. Hockey has just started and football’s reaching the bulk of its season, giving Redskins fans a reason to dread Sundays. As baseball is on its way out, basketball is just beginning to enter the picture; with a reloaded and much better NBA.
This offseason could be best described with one word: reloading. It started at the top with the defending NBA champions from Los Angeles. Even with an NBA title last year, General Manager Mitch Kupchak was not completely content with the makeup of his Lakers. As a result, he re-signed essential bench players Shannon Brown and Lamar Odom, let Finals star Trevor Ariza flee to Houston and signed troubled, yet defensively gifted Ron Artest.
Artest was the first major signing this offseason and forced other title contenders to restock as well. In Cleveland, Lebron “The King” James and company signed aging Shaquille O’Neal with hopes that “The Diesel” can give the Cavs that extra push to get over the top. Boston and Orlando countered by acquiring two fading stars of their own, Rasheed Wallace and Vince Carter respectively. The Spurs also had a busy offseason, watching defensive mastermind Bruce Bowen retire and trading backups Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto to Milwaukee in order to make room for a whole new crew featuring Richard Jefferson and rookie big man DeJuan Blair.
Other offseason travelers included Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto, Tyson Chandler to Charlotte, the seemingly worthless Allen Iverson to Memphis and Shawn Marion to Dallas. On top of these, the new crop of NBA rookies also needs to be factored in. Yes, the likes of Blake Griffin and Hasheem Thabeet are exciting players with a lot of potential, but it’s hard to see either having a truly franchise-changing impact. Look for Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans, Denver’s Ty Lawson and Philadelphia’s Jrue Holliday to be those franchise guys who develop into true superstars.
Aside from the rookies and free agent signings, one of the players with the biggest impact this year will be Chris Paul. When the man has the ball in the open court, it seems like there is nothing short of a brick wall that can stop him.
There will definitely be another shootout in the Wild West this year; obviously everyone is chasing the Lakers, but that conference is stacked with talent on almost every team — sorry Minnesota, but it’s going be a long year. I’m also curious to see which of the bottom-feeders start working their way up the food chain this season. It’s tough to be optimistic about pitiful teams like Milwaukee, Memphis and the aforementioned Timberwolves, but it is possible that the Sacramento Kings can crash the playoff party this year. That is, if they can find a consistent low post threat, or any threat for that matter.
Of course we cannot talk NBA without talking about the prospects of the local Washington Wizards. The Wizards showed to be less than charming last year, as they were crippled by injury all year and finished tied with the franchise-worst record of 19-63; they were so bad that the AU Men’s team outdid them in wins. Needless to say, hopes are slightly high this year with the arrival of head coach Flip Saunders, who reached four conference finals with the Timberwolves and Pistons. The front office also worked hard over the summer to bring in some new talent; the likes of Mike Miller, Randy Foye and Fabricio Oberto, should all prove to be useful additions. Couple these new guys with the core group of Caron Butler, Antwan Jamison and a healthy Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards have a solid chance of winding up in the playoffs this year. And hey, if they don’t, at least Washingtonians can rejoice in teams like the Nationals and Redskins. Well, maybe not.
When it’s all said and done this year, a few things will be certain. First, it’ll become evident that the Eastern Conference isn’t the little brother to the West as it was a few years ago. Whoever comes out of the East will give the Lakers a run for their money and it may not be the team that everyone expects. Which brings me to another certainty: the Lakers will reach the NBA championship again in 2010.
One last certainty: Mark Cuban will offend somebody, talk trash about somebody’s mother or try to motivate his team by telling them that they suck.
What is there to say but that it’s life, it’s the NBA and it’s that time again.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
