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Can you remember a more active off-season in NBA history? Perennial All-Stars like Grant Hill, Shawn Kemp, Eddie Jones have changed teams while up and comers like Tracy McGrady and Brain Grant have swapped finery. Even Patrick Ewing, seemingly a Knick forever, has been on the verge of donning a new uniform on many occasions.
This month, I'd like to run down some of the potential impact that this off-season of wheeling and dealing may have on some familiar names. Grant Hill/Tracy McGrady - Magic On draft night Magic GM John Gabriel was hailed as a genius for dumping half of his current roster (a team that made a valiant charge at a playoff berth) to clear cap space for the impressive crop of free agents available. However, when Tim Duncan foreswore the Magic Kingdom, Gabriel's IQ dropped about 20 points. Using his dearly won cap room, he landed the top 2 free agents other than Duncan in Hill and McGrady. Hill's role should be roughly the same as it was in Detroit, a little bit of everything with Tracy McGrady as the #2 option. McGrady is the guy who will benefit the most from the move, as Hill is a better distributor of the ball than Vince Carter. And if McGrady is a positioned as a guard in your league, move him up on your draft boards due to his tremendous block totals. Eddie Jones/Anthony Mason/Brian Grant - Heat Pat Riley creates his own Shaq/Kobe show by nabbing top 2 guard Eddie Jones to pair with his stud center Alonzo. Although 'Zo/Eddie is clearly inferior to the World Champion duo, the Heat supporting cast are much better. Grant becomes the rebounding/defense power forward (and will log a lot more minutes than he did in Portland). Mase slips into the 3 giving the Heat the toughest front line in the East. No excuses this year Mr. Riley. Shawn Kemp/Dale Davis - Portland - Like the Heat, the Trailblazers must feel a lot of pressure to win it soon. That's why they replaced Brian Grant and his outlandish contract demands with steady Dale Davis, who'll give them what Grant did. Adding Shawn Kemp makes less sense. Kemp's attitude and legendary lack of conditioning have gotten him run out of two cities. And he plays the same spot as Portland's best player, the volatile Rasheed Wallace. Can Kemp and Wallace co-exist? I don't envy Mike Dunleavy and I would move both down your draft lists a notch. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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