Team Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers

The Ghost of Seasons Past (2010 Free Agency Now Included)

“’Tis just a flesh wound!” Black Knight from Monty Python, and the Holy Grail
 
The Cavs had an offseason worthy of the Black Knight. Coming off a combined 127 wins over the past two seasons, Cleveland lost their best rebounder/right arm (LeBron), best playmaker/left arm (LeBron), go-to scorer/right leg (LeBron), best defender/left leg (LeBron) and a gigantic rear end/gigantic rear end (Shaq). Unfazed by the swift crippling of the Cavalier brand and franchise, Dan Gilbert proclaimed that Cleveland would win an NBA championship before LeBron and his Legion of Doom in a comical letter to the public. To be fair to Gilbert, the Cavaliers have good role players and are perhaps one superstar away from contention. Now that I think about it, I know the perfect player for Cleveland’s system. LeBron James! Ouch. Sorry, Cleveland. Especially unfortunate for the Cavaliers is the fact that they often looked to have the best team over the past two seasons. An unfavorable matchup with Orlando in 2009 derailed a potential (and more favorable) matchup with the Lakers in the Finals. And Cleveland looked dominant through game three of the 2010 series against Boston. Then LeBron became something other than a one-man wrecking crew and the best player in the league. Was his elbow that big of an issue? Did he find out that Delonte West was sleeping with his mom? Was he already thinking ahead to the summer and possible ways of turning millions against him? I don’t know. But it’s very possible that Cleveland did not win a title because of simple bad luck or an unfortunate injury to their most important player. Despite a natural inclination to point to a single result as a definitive statement on a team or player and come to the conclusion that LeBron could never win a ring without Dwyane Wade or that the recent Cleveland teams were fundamentally flawed, perhaps it just came down to random chance. I feel confident in saying that had he stayed, LeBron would have eventually won multiple rings in Cleveland. But that doesn’t make for a good story. And barring a miraculous turnaround, this year’s Cavs team won’t make for many good stories, either. Things are quite different now. With LeBron gone, it’s J.J. Hickson’s world and we’re just living in it.

Team Preview: Chicago Bulls

The Ghost of Seasons Past (2010 Free Agency Now Included)

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Alexander Pope

If I recall correctly, the Chicago Bulls enjoyed a fair amount of success in the 1990s. The final count came in at 558 regular season victories and six championships. And those totals are weighed down by a 13 win total during the (lockout shortened) 1999 season, the first year without Misters Jordan, Pippen and Jackson. Since that obliteration of the NBA's last dynasty, the Bulls have managed to be considered an up-and-coming team for an entire decade. They have been the Houston Texans of the NBA (and Eddy Curry is certainly David Carr). The first wave of youngsters included Elton Brand, Ron Artest and Jamal Crawford. Then Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Jay Williams and Marcus Fizer arrived on the scene. It’s likely only Tyson Chandler will have an NBA contract next season so it should be rather obvious that the second wave fared particularly poorly. Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich represented an improvement but could not win more than 47 games and Deng is the lone holdover on the current roster. Why haven't things worked out for Chicago? I blame the continuous reliance on players from Duke University but you can come to your own conclusions. Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose were the latest (and last?) young wave. Thomas has already moved on but the Bulls replaced him this offseason with Carlos Boozer (another Duke player!). With this move, Chicago finally cashed in on its’ cap space/assets and acquired a veteran big-name that wasn’t an aging Jalen Rose (who came at the expense of Artest and Brad Miller). Unfortunately, Chicago missed out on the grand prizes of the 2010 free agency period despite being able to pitch to free agents a potential starting lineup of Rose, Wade, LeBron, Bosh and Noah. Now that is a super team. Boozer is certainly not LeBron, Wade or even Bosh. And he’s not Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett, two names previously linked to the Bulls in trade discussions. But he signed a reasonable contract (considering the general overspending this summer) and fills a gaping hole in the frontcourt that has been expanding faster than Eddy Curry’s waistline since Elton Brand was traded to the Clippers nine years ago. Things appear to be changing in Chicago and Bulls fans can barely contain the hope bursting from their protruding, mustard stained, Gino's enhanced chests.

Team Preview: Charlotte Bobcats

The Ghost of Seasons Past
Larry Brown and Don Nelson are old. Nelson played for the Chicago Zephyrs. He played with Bill Russell and Jerry West. Brown has been coaching since players had names like Sleepy Floyd and Foots Walker (1982 New Jersey Nets). He coached in the ABA. Both turned 70 earlier this year and each is now a septuagenarian member of our fine society. In his send-off to sexagerarianism, Don Nelson spent his 69th year living in style. He set his own hours, traveled around the country, had a bit of fun and steadfastly refused to relate to today’s youth. NBA devotees will also note that Don Nelson was the coach of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors season served as a fascinating case study of how an NBA team would fare without any sort of direction from a head coach. They finished 26-56 and Nelson was fired in the offseason. On the other hand, Larry Brown spent his 69th year tirelessly coaching a mediocre NBA and led them to the playoffs. The Charlotte Bobcat roster had comparable talent to that of the hapless Warriors but finished 44-38. I don’t particularly like Larry Brown (see 2004 Pistons over Lakers) but the man can coach. According to Basketball Prospectus, Brown has the third best composite defensive rating of the thirty current NBA head coaches (behind Scott Skiles and Gregg Popovich). He has accomplished this despite frequently taking control of teams without quality talent (see Bobcats-Charlotte, Knicks-New York and Clippers-Los Angeles). Somehow, he coaxed career years out of Gerald Wallace and Nazr Mohammed while keeping Stephen Jackson (mostly) out of trouble and Boris Diaw (occasionally) out of the nearest Krispy Kreme. The Bobcats were the best defensive team in the league last year. Gerald Wallace is an excellent defender and umm…Raymond Felton won an NCAA championship and umm…Tyrus Thomas was picked 4th in the draft a couple years ago? The credit goes to Brown. In a surprising turn of events, he led Charlotte to their first playoff appearance in franchise history while the UNC basketball team struggled to an NIT berth. Don’t count on a continuation of this topsy-turvy version of North Carolina basketball. More Harrison Barnes, less Eduardo Najera.

Team Preview: Boston Celtics

The Ghost of Seasons Past (2010 Free Agency Now Included!)
The one that got away. I am, of course, referring to the Celtics and their pursuit of the 2010 NBA championship and not the 1957 WWII film that I was unaware of until some very recent Googling. The Celtics successfully rope-a-doped the Eastern Conference last year and were one quarter away from a second NBA title in three years. But the problems that plagued the Celtics during the regular season crept into Game Seven and denied them a ring. They could not keep their foul rate under control, struggled on the glass against a taller Lakers team and went cold from the outside as the offense stagnated. Faced with a rapidly aging core of players and the expiring contracts of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Coach Doc Rivers, the Celtics seriously considered blowing up the team and rebuilding around Rajon Rondo. Instead, Rivers returned as coach and brought Pierce’s Bubblicious Beard with him (Jesus Shuttlesworth, too). To augment a front court that couldn’t match up with Pau Gasol in the Finals, GM Danny Ainge added 600 pounds of O’Neal. It’s uncertain how many pounds Shaq will contribute to that total but my best guess is 437. Although Shaq’s weight might be one problem for the Celtics, the more important number is 39, as in the years that Shaq will have lived on our fine planet Earth this March 6th. Since Boston’s championship window was already rapidly closing, the Celtics chose to swing for the fences and go bigger, slower and older. Hopefully no one threw out their back in the process. I hear that’s a problem for the geriatric.

Team Preview: Atlanta Hawks

The Ghost of Seasons Past (2010 Free Agency Now Included!)
The Atlanta Hawks have a relatively young core of players and won 100 games and two playoff series over the past two years. They have improved on their win total in each of the last five regular seasons and have an emerging star who harnessed his immense talents for the first time in 2010. All of these facts make Atlanta seem like the (much-hyped) OKC Thunder of the Eastern Conference and indeed, the Hawks are similarly a single piece away from being a serious contender. Lost amidst the LeBron mania over the summer was a low-key, yet crucial, signing for Atlanta. It was a signing that brought Atlanta two-time championship experience not named Adam Morrison. To be fair, Josh Powell’s ability is more Morrisonian than Bryantesque. But his renowned locker room DJ-ing can only help team chemistry. According to John Hollinger’s latest computations, that should be good at least .17 wins this season. And all for the veteran’s minimum! So, there’s that. Oh, I almost forgot. The Hawks front office also re-signed Joe Johnson to a contract worth $119 million and destined the team to five years of 48 win seasons and early playoff exits at the hands of the Magic, Celtics, Bulls and LeBron’s Knicks Wade’s Knicks Bosh and Johnson’s Knicks the Legion of Doom. So, there’s that, too. Well played, Rick Sund. It takes a special man to live up the incompetence of former GM Billy Knight but you may have succeeded.