Winners and Losers of the 2009 Offseason

Pistons' 'boring' offseason moves solid
BY VINCE ELLIS • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • July 27, 2009

From the e-mails I've been getting recently, Pistons Nation isn't exactly cool with the off-season.

It seems the addition of free agents Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Chris Wilcox is drawing a big yawn.
Many would have rather Joe Dumars go in another direction besides drafting multitalented forwards Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko.

Fans are waiting for the next big move.

But if Dumars only signs a third point guard and brings aboard a journeyman big man like former Piston Ben Wallace before the opener, it has been a solid off-season.

On Day 1 of free agency, he identified the free agents he wanted (Gordon and Villanueva) and got commitments.

With little money to spend, he probably got the big man with the highest upside (Wilcox) in the NBA's bargain-basement bin.

And Daye, Summers and Jerebko proved in Las Vegas that they have the potential to be productive players.

The only knock is Dumars' hiring head coach John Kuester, his third choice to succeed first-year coach Michael Curry. But the prediction here is Kuester will be an upgrade.

And when the Pistons announce the addition of former NBA head coach Brian Hill to Kuester's staff, you can take that as another positive.

So the Pistons are definitely one of the winners of the off-season.

The other winners

Celtics: The addition of former Piston Rasheed Wallace makes Boston the front-runner in the Eastern Conference and probably for the NBA crown.

Raptors: By acquiring Hedo Turkoglu and Jarrett Jack, Toronto is giving the impression it's trying, which could help persuade Chris Bosh to hang around after next season.

Trail Blazers: Expect a major jump from this young, talented team with the addition of veteran point guard Andre Miller.

Spurs: San Antonio is back in business by getting Richard Jefferson and former Piston Antonio McDyess.

The jury's still out

Cavaliers: Cleveland is trying to make its case to LeBron James, but I wonder if the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal is a panic move. He couldn't guard the pick-and-roll when he was one of the most dominant big men of all time.

Magic: Vince Carter is being sold as an upgrade over Turkoglu, but V.C. can look like one of the best players in the NBA one night and nearly comatose the next. And Carter could mess up the chemistry of the team that surprised many by making the NBA Finals.

Lakers: They will go to the winner category if they can re-sign forward Lamar Odom, but the addition of Ron Artest to replace Trevor Ariza is definitely an upgrade.

And now, the losers

76ers: The loss of Miller hurt the team that once looked like a rising star in the East.

Heat: It has a lot of work to do to convince Dwyane Wade it's worth his time to hang around. If Miami gets Odom, that would give the team a winner label.