Spurs, Bucks earn top off-season grades

[Manu20]

Spurs, Bucks earn top off-season grades
Mike Kahn / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/4913790

Incredibly enough, NBA training camps begin from coast to coast next week. With the regular season scheduled to begin on Nov. 1, it's imperative we take a look at what teams have accomplished this summer.

Using typically subjective form, we decided to grade the architecture of the NBA personnel offices in the redesigning of their respective rosters.
And what we've come up with are a few A's, plenty of B's, mostly C's, and a couple of D's thrown in there for good measure.

Not surprisingly, the perpetually superb San Antonio Spurs — as defending champions — did the best job of adding to their already exceptional roster. Right on their heels would be the Sacramento Kings battling to get back into the heat of the battle in the West.

In the East, the Miami Heat added a slew of name players — perhaps too many — but they are primed to take a run at the two-time Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons. And very quietly building a team that looks ready to make a move are the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So without burdening you more rhetoric, let's get down to business here.

Atlanta Hawks: With the second pick of the draft, the Hawks took North Carolina freshman forward Marvin Williams, and they added hot-shooting Salim Stoudamire in the second round. But the big addition was the acquisition of young super-talent Joe Johnson from Phoenix in exchange for Boris Diaw and two future No. 1 draft choices. They also added Tyronn Lue, Zaza Pachulia and John Edwards. It's a big gamble turning over the leadership of the franchise and giving huge money to such a young player as Johnson, but he is exceptionally gifted. We'll have to see how his previously quiet personality handles it. They're very athletic, but seriously lack interior players. Grade: A-minus.

Boston Celtics: Along with draft choices Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes and Orien Greene, the Celtics signed rookie Will Bynum and veteran Brian Scalabrine. And in the sign-and-trade that sent Antoine Walker to Miami, they received Qyntel Woods, Curtis Borchardt and Albert Morales. They also let go of veteran point guard Gary Payton. These moves certainly make the Celtics younger for Doc Rivers, and contrary to popular belief, they did hang on to All-Star Paul Pierce. In fact, they just keep getting younger, if not better. Grade: C

Charlotte Bobcats: General manager Bernie Bickerstaff hit the jackpot in the draft with a pair of stars from the national champion North Carolina Tar Heels — Sean May and Raymond Felton. They re-signed key players Gerald Wallace, Kareem Rush, Brevin Knight and Matt Carroll, plus added Jake Voskuhl. The losses of Malik Allen and Jason Hart really don't hurt, and they already have a solid front court with Emeka Okafor and Primoz Brezec. Grade: B-plus.

Chicago Bulls: President John Paxson continues to work the roster masterfully, re-signing Tyson Chandler, Chris Duhon, Ot a Harrington, while adding free agents Darius Songaila and Malik Allen. The only real question is what will happen to restricted free agent Eddy Curry. The $5.1 million qualifying offer is on the table, as questions surrounding his undetermined heart condition create uncertainty galore. It's a tossup whether he'll be on the Bulls by the time the regular season begins. Grade: B-plus

Cleveland Cavaliers: Everything changed, from Danny Ferry replacing president Jim Paxson, to Mike Brown now the coach instead of Paul Silas. But they're still building around prodigal son LeBron James, beginning with the re-signing of 7-3 All-Star Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The key transition came in the signing of free agents Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, Damon Jones and Alan Henderson. This should be the breakthrough season in which James and the Cavs reach the playoffs. Grade: A-minus.

Dallas Mavericks: This is hard to fathom, but the Mavericks have added nobody. That's right, the always active Mavs stood pat. No draft picks. No free agents. They waived Michael Finley with the amnesty opportunity and Alan Henderson bolted for Cleveland. Yes, they were young and head coach Avery Johnson will have his first full season to develop his players. It brings to mind what a wise man told me once: "Don't just do something, sit there." Grade: C-plus.

Denver Nuggets: They added talented draftees Julius Hodge to score and Linas Kleiza to battle inside, plus they signed Earl Watson to be their tough on-the-ball point guard to add pressure to their full-court defense. They're hopeful young DerMarr Johnson, re-signed, will continue to develop as a shooting guard, and rumors persist about a trade. But this is really about just coming back strong with the young guys they already have and a full season from coach George Karl after a 32-8 finish. Grade: B-minus.

Detroit Pistons: Along with tough rebounding first round draft choice Jason Maxiell, the Joe Dumars drafted sweet shooting guard Alex Acker. He also added another power player in Dale Davis and a much-needed athletic guard off the bench Maurice Evans. This helps, but it remains to be seen if new coach Flip Saunders has enough juice to lead these guys to the Finals for the third year in a row. Grade: B-plus.

Golden State Warriors: With Chris Mullin's fingerprints all over the reconstruction of this team, there wasn't much they had to do this summer on the heels of last season's mid-season acquisition of Baron Davis. Top draft choice Ike Diogu fills their need for an interior presence and second-round pick Chris Taft is of a similar style. And prep scoring sensation Monta Ellis will have a chance to develop in the D-League if they are so inclined. They let go of Rodney White and Nikoloz Tskitishvili because they didn't need them. Grade: B

Houston Rockets: After their crushing collapse in the first round last season, the Rockets added help up front with athletic Stromile Swift and versatile guard Derek Anderson. They re-signed Dikembe Mutombo and Jon Barry, let go Scott Padgett and Clarence Weatherspoon. Top draft choice from Illinois Luther Heard is a little undersized as a shooting guard, but mature and an exceptional shooter. The re-make for Jeff Van Gundy continues, but these are minor tweaks that should help. Grade: B

Indiana Pacers: The Pacers got a steal with forward Danny Granger at the 17th pick and Ezarem Lorbeck in the second round is a big tough player from Europe who was an effective player at Michigan State two years ago and should make the team. The big free agent steal was Lithuanian guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, but he's got a tough act to follow in retired Reggie Miller. With James Jones gone to Phoenix and Dale Davis in Detroit, the best bonus for coach Rick Carlisle is having Ron Artest back after being suspended for virtually all of the 2004-05 seaosn for his role in the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Grade: B

Los Angeles Clippers: It's always a trip trying to figure out what these guys are doing. Drafting guards Yaroslav Korolev and Daniel Ewing were head-scratchers considering their prodigal youngster Shaun Livingston; then they dealt Marko Jaric for aging Sam Cassell. They did sign streak-shooting Cuttino Mobley, but they lost the league's most improved player Bobby Simmons to Milwaukee. Mikki Moore and Rick Brunson left for Seattle, and Kerry Kittles was waived. No way they're as good without Jaric and Simmons. Grade: D-plus.

Los Angeles Lakers: Meet the new boss, Kobe Bryant, same as the old boss Phil Jackson is back. And along with him have come Kwame Brown and Laron Profit from Washington for Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins. They brought aboard Aaron McKie and Smush Parker to fortify the backcourt. Brian Grant was waived and Luke Walton will be back. Rookie big man Andrew Bynum will have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as his tutor. Bringing back Jackson is the biggest deal, if for no other reason than the regained stability — plus he'll put the ball in Lamar Odom's hands, forcing Bryant to play with him. Brown was a worthwhile gamble for what they gave up. Grade: B-plus.

Memphis Grizzlies: The money purge is on, with the theory that president Jerry West was just gathering talent so he could make the blockbuster trade for a superstar pure folly. If the big deal was getting aging guard Eddie Jones and Bobby Jackson, while expunging Jason Williams and Bonzi Wells, so be it. They also lost depth with Stromile Swift bolting to Houston and Earl Watson to Denver in free agency. The good news is they had an excellent draft with Hakim Warrick and a possible second-round steal with power forward Lawrence Roberts. What we do know is dealing Williams and Wells is a far more effective pain reliever for coach Mike Fratello than ibuprofen. Grade: B-minus.

Miami Heat: They were within minutes of winning the Eastern Conference, but president Pat Riley set out to bring in enough pieces to surround Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, and suddenly, it seems almost too much. As if Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey weren't enough, Gary Payton was signed this week. They also lost Keyon Dooling and Damon Jones to free agency, along with dealing Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler and Qyntel Woods. The transition obviously brought in a lot of talent and major names, but making it all fit is a different deal altogether. It's going to be an interesting challenge for coach Stan Van Gundy. Grade: B.

Milwaukee Bucks: With the first overall pick in the draft, the Bucks took multi-talented 7-footer Andrew Bogut, but more importantly they re-signed Michael Redd, Toni Kukoc and Dan Gadzuric. They also lured Bobby Simmons from the Clippers, added depth with Ervin Johnson and Andre Barrett. And most importantly, young point guard T.J. Ford has recovered from spinal surgery after missing 18 months and is reportedly as quick and effective as ever. It all bodes well for new coach Terry Stotts, who clearly deserved another chance after presiding over a disaster in Atlanta. All the Bucks lost were backup centers Zaza Pachulia and Calvin Booth. Grade: A.

Minnesota Timberwolves: This will be a makeover season with new coach Dwane Casey at the helm and the deposing of Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Marko Jaric and Richie Frahm, along with rookies Rashad McCants and Bracey Wright join Troy Hudson and re-signed Anthony Carter in the reconstructed backcourt. Rookie Dwayne Jones and Nikoloz Tskitishvili join re-signed Eddie Griffin and Mark Madsen up front. Also gone is solid backup center Ervin Johnson and reliable bench shooter Fred Hoiberg, the latter following heart surgery. It's hard to tell if they'll be better after such a disappointing season out of the playoffs, but they'll certainly be different around Kevin Garnett. Grade: C-plus.

New Jersey Nets: With athletic sharp-shooting top draft choice Antoine Wright and lanky 7-footer Mile Ilic, the Nets also signed free agents Jeff McInnis, Lamond Murray, Scott Padgett and Linton Johnson. They re-signed Cliff Robinson and traded for Marc Jackson, while losing Scalabrine and waiving Ron Mercer. But the biggest loss of all was deciding not to sign Shareef Abdur-Rahim because of old knee damage. Nonetheless, they should be the class of the Atlantic Division. Grade: C

New Orleans/Oklahoma City: It's hard to fathom that a franchise that was already such a mess could suffer the indignity of Hurricane Katrina as well and be forced to move. But it happened. The good news is they had an excellent draft with Chris Paul and Brandon Bass, plus they re-signed promising players Bostjan Nachbar and Chris Andersen. Losing Dan au to Boston is no big deal and what happens to free agent Casey Jacobsen won't matter much either. This promises to be a bizarre season for these players and Byron Scott's coaching staff no matter what. Grade: B-minus

New York Knicks: President Isiah Thomas did well in the draft with 7-footer Channing Frye, mighty-mite Nate Robinson and power forward David Lee. They took a gamble with under-achieving free agent center Jerome James and received shooter Quentin Richardson from Phoenix in exchange for power forward Kurt Thomas. They also waived forward Jerome Williams. But the biggest addition of all is peripatetic new head coach Larry Brown. Thomas deserves credit for continuing to work the roster, despite the seemingly ill fit for Brown's style. However, he always makes teams better. Grade: B

Orlando Magic: With the re-hiring of Brian Hill, plus drafting Fran Vasquez in the lottery and not knowing he had no interest in coming to the NBA this season, Magic management is clearly still lost at sea. Second-round draft choice Travis Diener should be a decent backup point guard, and they never did get anything from Doug Christie, whom they waived. They're counting on Steve Francis becoming a player instead of a dribbling machine, Grant Hill being healthy enough to play all season and teen sensation Dwight Howard coming along rapidly. Good luck getting out of the lottery. Grade: D.

Philadelphia 76ers: Billy King continues to re-work this roster as well, only this time for a fourth coach in three seasons with Maurice Cheeks replacing the unpopular Jim O'Brien. Draft choice Louis Williams is a coin flip to make the team, but they re-signed Samuel Dalembert and Kyle Korver. The new signings are center Steven Hunter, and forwards Lee Nailon and Shavlik Randolph, while the Sixers let go of local products Aaron McKie and Marc Jackson. The big question is how much Chris Webber contributes in a full season as Allen Iverson's front man. Grade: B-minus.

Phoenix Suns: Coming off the spectacular 62-win season, the Suns got help up front in receiving Thomas for Richardson, and signing aging free agent tough guy Brian Grant. Raja Bell will help the defense, and James Jones can shoot the ball, but Boris Diaw and a draft choice can't replace superb young talent Joe Johnson, sent to Atlanta in a sign-and-trade. They also lost Hunter and Jake Voskuhl to free agency. There's virtually no way they match last season with what they've lost. Grade: C.

Portland Trail Blazers: Right out of the blocks the whole veneer of the team will be different with tough new coach Nate McMillan. They continue to get amazingly young with prep sharpshooter Martell Webster as their lottery pick, plus Georgia Tech point guard Jarrett Jack and last year's first-round pick Sergie Monia coming aboard. They also added the backup duo from the Washington Wizards — Juan Dixon and Steve Blake — via the free agent market. Gone are local favorite Damon Stoudamire, plus Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Derek Anderson, Richie Frahm and Nick Van Exel. They're younger, more athletic and tougher — if not ready for prime time - with McMillan as coach. Grade: B

Sacramento Kings: President Geoff Petrie went back to the drawing board, and that's always good news for Kings fans and bad news for the Western Conference. They let go of Cuttino Mobley, Darius Songaila, Eddie House and Maurice Evans, and traded Bobby Jackson and Greg Ostertag. In return they acquired Bonzi Wells and Jason Hart, then scooped up Shareef Abdur-Rahim after the Nets passed on him. Top draft choice Francisco Garcia is long, a great shooter and more than compensates for the loss of Evans. All things being equal, it looks like Petrie stepped to the table and put the Kings back into the thick of the Western Conference race. Grade: A-minus

San Antonio Spurs: When was it that Stephen Stills wrote, "The rich just keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting old?" He may as well have been talking about the Spurs. They signed Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel, re-signed Robert Horry and Sean Marks, and may eventually have Luis Scola, although it doesn't look like it for this season. Anyway, with two les in three seasons and only the loss of marginally influential Devin Brown (Linton Johnson just took up space on the injured list), the Spurs are prohibitive favorites to win the West again. Grade: A

Seattle SuperSonics: Allowing Nate McMillan (not to mention Dwane Casey) to walk the way they did — replacing him with Bob Weiss — changes the coaching staff dramatically. Good thing they re-signed Ray Allen because it's more his team than ever before. With eight free agents, the coaching staff (and himself), it's a wonder general manager Rick Sund could get anything done but he did. He replaced Daniels with Rick Brunson; lost Jerome James and replaced him with Mikki Moore. He re-signed Damien Wilkins and Vitaly Potapenko to multi-year deals, but Vladimir Radmanovic and Flip Murray refused and autographed one-year qualifying offers instead. Presumably, restricted free agent power forward Reggie Evans will take the qualifying offer as well. Top draft choice Johan Petro is a likely candidate for the D-League. There's no way the surprise team of the 2004-05 season has a rerun in it, and likely will struggle to make the playoffs at all. Grade: C-minus.

Toronto Raptors: This perpetually struggling franchise still mystifies everyone. Getting Joey Graham with the 16th pick was great, but Charlie Villanueva — his work habits a huge question mark — was a major gamble. They've lost Marshall, Lamond Murray and Milt Palacio, and it's just hard to fathom how this franchise is ever going to get out of the muck with so many missing pieces. They could be worse than last season and that's frightening. Grade: D.

Utah Jazz: The Jazz took an early hit losing free agent Raja Bell to the Phoenix, but rebounded nicely with Devin Brown from San Antonio and Milt Palacio from Toronto. Moreover, Deron Williams — the third pick overall in the 2005 draft — has the potential to be a franchise point guard out of the Jason Kidd mold, and should start as a rookie. Rookie Robert Whaley, he of the checkered past but NBA body and skills, was worth the risk in the second round, as was high school star C.J. Miles. Plus they brought back Greg Ostertag for coach Jerry Sloan to abuse again — while losing perpetually injured players Curtis Borchardt and Raul Lopez — and unloaded young and immature Kirk Snyder. They'll be better for a number of reasons. Grade: B-plus.

Washington Wizards: The only player the Wizards draft, Andray Blatche, was shot and seriously wounded last week. They dealt Kwame Brown and Laron Profit for Chucky Atkins and Caron Butler, plus they re-signed Michael Ruffin, and added Antonio Daniels and Calvin Booth. They also lost Larry Hughes and Juan Dixon to free agency — and presumably Steve Blake. This comes on the heels of their first trip to the second round in 23 years. Will it be another two decades? Grade: D-plus.

Veteran NBA writer Mike Kahn is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.

[Manu20]

San Antonio Spurs: When was it that Stephen Stills wrote, "The rich just keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting old?" He may as well have been talking about the Spurs. They signed Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel, re-signed Robert Horry and Sean Marks, and may eventually have Luis Scola, although it doesn't look like it for this season. Anyway, with two les in three seasons and only the loss of marginally influential Devin Brown (Linton Johnson just took up space on the injured list), the Spurs are prohibitive favorites to win the West again. Grade: A

He forgot about Oberto.

[boutons]

"He forgot about Oberto"

which would have given us an A+

[Marklar MM]

It is wierd looking at B-plus. I keep thinking it means B minus plus.

[gospursgojas]

Damn I didnt know that the Magics draft pick is not even going to play this year, and that they didnt know that...thats pretty stupid.

[Marklar MM]

Damn I didnt know that the Magics draft pick is not even going to play this year, and that they didnt know that...thats pretty stupid.

Ya. He is being a pussy.

"I've said no because I was afraid to adapt to the American way of life and of not giving the level they have asked."

That is what the Sportsnation poll thing for 30 biggest stories said he said.