Chaos Reigns or: Evaluating the 2010 Offseason

What a weird and wacky offseason! Weird and wacky I say!

Recapping everything that's happened would be as monotonous an exercise as recounting every malapropism ever spoken by our previous President, so let's just stick to the most important events of the last few weeks:

LeBron and Bosh Head South

It's hard to even fathom at this juncture. Not only does Miami have two of the three best players in the league on its roster, it also has another top-20 player who doubles as one of the best big men in the game. Add a deadly sharpshooter (Mike Miller, who shot 48% from beyond the arc last season), competent role players (Haslem, Ilgauskas, Chalmers, Joel Anthony, James Jones, and possibly Carlos Arroyo and Juwan Howard), and a decent head coach (with Pat Riley waiting in the wings if things go awry), and we easily have the makings of a 65+-win team (barring injury or a tactical nuclear strike on the state of Florida).

What's even more disconcerting is the fact that the Heat were a 47-win team last season without LeBron, Bosh, and Miller. I think we can safely assume that LeBron is an astronomical upgrade over Quentin Richardson, and Bosh a titanic improvement over Michael Beasley (strangely enough, I think Miami will miss Jermaine O'Neal and Dorell Wright slightly-repeat: slightly).

"The Decision"

As ill-conceived a P.R. move as we'll ever see in this day and age, so incomprehensibly idiotic that it defies any and all logic, even in the world of professional sports. While the subsequent wailing and gnashing of teeth among journalists and fans has been a bit much, it's certainly hard to defend the hour-long ego-fest which LeBron and his handlers had undoubtedly been planning for months. Then again, at least we'll  have something from this offseason to look back at and laugh about in the years to come (well, unless you're a Cavs fan, in which case I offer my deepest sympathies).

Chicago is Utah!

While the Bulls struck out on the Big Three of this year's free-agent class, the additions of three erstwhile members of the Utah Jazz (Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie Brewer) were more than adequate consolation prizes. With Noah, Boozer, and Deng up front, Chicago has arguably one of the best front-lines in the East, and the backcourt tandem of Rose and either Brewer or Korver is nothing to scoff at either; although presently I'd be hard-pressed to rank them ahead of Miami, Orlando, or Boston, any improvements made to the bench (though a group consisting of Taj Gibson, Korver/Brewer, Omer Asik, and James Johnson isn't necessarily terrible) in the coming weeks and months could be enough to propel the team into the top three of the conference (most likely at Boston's expense).

Joe Johnson Re-Signs with the Hawks

You would think by now that the achievements of R.C. Buford (San Antonio), Sam Presti (Oklahoma City), Kevin Pritchard (recently and unjustly ousted from Portland), Daryl Morey (Houston), Kevin O'Connor (Utah), and other savvy G.M.'s would have led to a league-wide embrace of a new paradigm entailing a bolder and more nuanced approach to team-building, as well as a keener appropriation of resources and money by both G.M.'s and owners. Of course, these principles have all but been unheeded, as can be evinced in the Hawks' soon-to-be-indefensible resigning of Joe Johnson for six years and $120 million (!).

Look, Joe Johnson is a fine player (though by no means a superstar) and it's more than reasonable to suggest that Atlanta had no other choice but to resign its only true star; however, one can't help thinking that by taking the road less traveled (i.e. letting Johnson go or moving him for other assets in a sign-and-trade), Hawks' management could have positioned the franchise nicely for the next 5-10 years. Instead, Atlanta's stuck with a team that's no better than fifth or sixth in the East (depending on how you feel about Milwaukee), with really no chance to improve outside of trading a core player or getting lucky with a mediocre draft pick.

David Kahn: Madman? Or Genius???

Quickly becoming the laughing-stock of the NBA, David Kahn has proven himself to be of the utmost value when it comes to comedic relief. We have to thank God that there's still a G.M. dumb and incompetent enough to not only give Darko Milicic another chance, but also to pair him with Michael Beasley (apparently in an effort to create an All-Dissapointment team) and grossly over-pay for a second-round draft pick (Nikola Pekovic: 3 years for $13 million). To top this all off, Kahn traded one of the better low-post players in the league (Al Jefferson) to Utah for basically nothing (the legendary Kostas Koufos and two useless draft picks), and signed yet another point guard (Luke Ridnour), despite the fact that the Wolves already have Jonny Flynn, Ramon Sessions, and Ricky Rubio (who is undoubtedly very eager to come to the States and play for the basketball-equivalent of Captain Ahab).

Honestly, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if Kahn traded Kevin Love for a sack of potatoes and signed Daunte Culpepper to a five year-$100 million deal.

True Grit or: Your Home Court Means Nothing

Ever since their Game 4 loss to Oklahoma City in the First Round, the Lakers have been on a tear. While their margins of victory over the Thunder and the Jazz have been relatively unimpressive (except for their Game 5 blowout of OKC), the toughness they've exhibited since that aforementioned humiliating defeat at the hands of Kevin Durant and company has quieted some of the talk regarding their focus and chemistry issues. The narrow victory they eked out against the Jazz tonight in Salt Lake City, despite the brillant play of Deron Williams and Kyle Korver and the return of Andrei Kirilenko, is further confirmation of the fact that the Lakers, no matter how unlikable and passionless they may some times appear to be, are champions in the truest sense of the word. They could have at any point given up, and taken comfort in the fact that they would have retained home-court advantage regardless of the outcome; instead, they refused to wither in a physical game in front of a hostile crowd, and stole a one-point victory against a team with its back against the wall.

Despite his hesitancy to pass in the first quarter, Kobe played a magnificent game (35 points on 13-24 shooting, 7 assists, and several cluch plays in the final minutes of the fourth), as did Ron Artest (!) and Derek Fisher (!), both of whom provided L.A. a spark with their outside shooting (!!!). While they shouldn't expect the latter two to play as well as they did going forward (indeed, Fisher's performance was akin to Lazarus rising from the dead), the Lakers have to be encouraged that they were able to pull out a road win, despite the apparent inability of their bench players to play well anymore (really, 8-24 from the field, guys?). A sweep is, at this point, not out of the question considering the disheartening way in which the Jazz lost (poor, poor Wes Matthews), though one shouldn't be surprised if the Lakers are unable to stifle the desire to finish up the series at home.

Also: the less that's said about the Orlando-Atlanta series, the better. However, I find it remarkable that the lower seeds in each conference are having such a hard time defending their home court. Atlanta and Boston were hammered by their visiting opponents, and the Jazz and Spurs lost tight, physical games in front of crowds who traditionally have swung more than a few games in their favor. Strange times, folks.

The Odd Couple: LeBron the Revelator and Goran Dragic

LeBron James and Goran Dragic: while no one was surprised to see the former single-handedly decimate the will of another team, the latter's flurry of points in the second half of last night's game was undoubtedly a shock to many (including the Spurs). What's even more amazing than the fact that these two explosive performances occurred on the same night is the contrasting ways in which each player went about dominating their opponents; while LeBron was methodical and deliberate in the unleashing of his destructive powers upon the hapless Celtics, Dragic was spontaneous and freewheeling, extracting his points out of the anarchic flow of a game which saw the Spurs take a commanding lead early. If Phoenix goes on to win this series (which, despite the 3-0 lead, is anything but a certainty, considering the history between these two teams), Dragic's (random) second-half heroics will be remembered as the turning point in a bout which appeared to be San Antonio's to lose after their dismantling of the Mavs in round 1.

As for LeBron: we've seen this sort of thing from him before. His 48 points against Detroit in Game 5 of the '07 Conference Finals, his duel with Paul Pierce in Game 7 of the '08 Semis, his entire oeuvre in last year's postseason; his ability to take over at the highest level should come as no surprise to anyone at this point. However, the steely-eyed determination with which he has approached this year's playoffs is something new to my eyes, and could be a terrifying glimpse of what the future holds for the rest of the league. If he's serious about being serious, and has dropped the goofy antics, then we could be seeing a player whose career, despite already being of legendary quality, is entering the territory of the transcendent.