Cavs Board

Well it’s time I stop being a lazy piece of shit. After the Delonte signing, I needed to put some real work in so as to not get fired from my paying job. But at this point, it’s time to start writing again and start looking around the division/league. Seeing as I already did a write-up on my least favorite moves of this offseason, it’s only fitting that I make my feelings known about which moves I like best.

So without any more delay, I give you my five “Best Moves of 2008 Offseason”:

1.) Elton Brand signs with the Sixers

This one is pretty obvious to sit atop my list in large part because it was unexpected. If you had told me that Brand would leave the Clippers, under rather nefarious circumstances, after the Clippers acquired Baron Davis, I would have told you that you were crazy.

The guy has been nothing but a loyal workhorse, and the monetary differences didn’t seem enough to prompt a guy to uproot his life and walk away from a potentially contending trio of Brand/Davis/Camby with promising young support from Thornton and Gordon.

But yeah…. That happened, and now I have to hope the 20 and 10 we’ve all come to expect from Brand is either a thing of the past, or mostly hollow numbers that don’t translate to “surpassing the Cavs”. Call me skeptical that another year together and the addition of Brand/Speights/Ratliff won’t spell significant progress for the Sixers.

He’s worth every cent of the deal he got, and the fact that Sixers resigned Igoudala and Williams only makes this deal all the bigger in my eyes.

2.) Rockets acquire Ron Artest

This is one of those fantasy roster moves that of course I love until I see how it plays out. It’s low risk, and simply for that reason alone, I can get behind it. If Artest works out, you’ve put yourself in the driver’s seat when he negotiates his next contract. If not, he plays out the final year of his contract and he’s off the books next summer. Either way, the on court impact he could have on an already solid defensive squad could be tremendous. With Battier and Artest harassing the opposition, Tracy can focus on what Tracy does.

Giving up Donte Greene after his summer league showing might have been unfortunate, but we all know summer league ball does not an NBA player make (see Shannon Brown), and considering the way his stock free fell during the actual draft (sliding all the way to Memphis at #28 before being traded to Houston for weed smoking Darrell Arthur, the Rockets were probably fortunate to luck into such a promising talent that late in the first round anyway. Turning him and the corpse of Bobby Jackson into Ron Artest is a deal you make 11 out of 10 days.

2.5) Clippers acquire Marcus Camby

I already posted my thoughts on why this was a bad deal for the Nuggets, so logically I’d love it for the Clippers. Low risk, high reward. Moving on.

3.) Portland acquires Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu for Brandon Rush/Jarrett Jack/Josh McRoberts

A slashing point guard like Bayless would have been a dream scenario for the Cavs, but most expected he could go as high as the fourth overall pick. Why dwell on something which will never happen? He did slip quite a long way…. all the way to #11 where he was taken by the Pacers. Instead of holding on to him as the replacement for Jamaal Tinsley, the Pacers shipped him off to the Trailblazers.

The Trailblazers essentially turned the 13th overall pick (Brandon Rush) and two other players (Jarrett Jack and Josh Roberts) into the summer league’s best rookie who could start immediately or provide a huge scoring punch off the bench, a big man in Diogu, and almost as importantly, they opened up one more roster spot which is valuable for a team that is loaded up on overseas talent.

After seeing Rudy Fernandez’s performance in the Olympics, you’d be hard pressed to find somebody that would take issue with the Blazers offseason roster maneuvers. Did I mention Greg Oden returns?

4.) Roger Mason signs with the Spurs for 2 years, $7.3 million

I had to make at least one of these picks about a role player who flew under the radar. I loved this signing. The Spurs are aging and they added a 28-year old perimeter player who can do a little of everything to ease the loss of Brent Barry and the decay of Michael Finley. He shot nearly 40% from behind the arc last year, showed the ability to put the ball on the floor a little, and even spelled Daniels and Arenas at point when injuries required it.

Considering players like Michael Pietrus got the entire midlevel exception even after the Magic invested a first round pick in a player of the same position (Courtney Lee), you can hardly second guess the Spurs for acquiring yet another versatile role player for only $3.5 million to plug in alongside their starters. Watching Mason play these last few years have given me a healthy respect for his all around game. Mason won’t be enough to offset the age/injury concerns the Spurs continue to have, but he was a nice addition.

5.) Timberwolves acquire Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and Jason Collins for OJ Mayo, Greg Buckner, Marko Jaric, and Antoine Walker

Let’s take the dead weight out of the analysis of this deal (Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Brian Cardinal). It’s moving bad money for other bad money, with the only difference being years.

The core of this deal is Kevin Love and Mike Miller for OJ Mayo. Personally I think I’d take Love for Mayo straight up. Love is a big man with both an inside and outside game (although we’ve yet to see how effective his inside game will be in the pros). He’s worked tirelessly to get his body in optimal NBA condition. He rebounds very well. He has a good attitude and fundamentally, he’s perhaps the best player in this year’s draft.

As for Mayo, he’s got the “upside”. Many would say at USC he was underwhelming given the level of hype he came in with. His character certainly can be called into question after witnessing his youtube antics and reading about his alleged “benefits” while playing at USC. But I’m trying to view this independently of any off court related reasons.

Why would a big man starved team (the Grizzlies) trade a very promising big man for another perimeter player on a team that already has Conley, Crittendon, Lowry, and Gay? Mayo has the “upside” but he’s hardly shown that’s he’s a traditional point guard, and with Crittendon and Gay on the outside, the Grizzlies don’t lack for guys who can fill it up when given the green light.

Call me a hater, but I think the Mayo legacy that was created post-Lebron is responsible for the Grizzlies trading away a guy who will end with a better NBA career.