2000 NBA Off-Season Winners

By Jeff Karl

This was a busy summer in NBA basketball, with lots of highly regarded free agents. Some jumped ship, while others stayed loyal. InsideHoops points out the biggest winners of the NBA off-season.

NBA Winners this Summer

Portland Trail Blazers

Just one bad quarter from reaching the NBA Finals last season, the Blazers have made a few huge changes. While Brian Grant is very good, he's injured all the time. Dale Davis has a similar game to Grant's, except Davis stays healthy. And while Jermaine O'Neal may or may not have a lot of potential, Shawn Kemp is a former all-star who admittedly fell out of shape in Cleveland but claims that Portland will be a fresh start for him. These moves are fantastic for the Blazers, especially since they might have lost Brian Grant and gotten no one in return, let alone the 2000 NBA All-Star in Davis.
 

Orlando Magic

Brand new coach Doc Rivers did a fantastic job last season coaching a team lacking a single all-star to a near playoff appearance. The Magic were suppossed to be horrible, but instead they competed with everyone. They then succeeded in clearing out hoards of salary cap room, and although they were unable to convince Tim Duncan to join the team, superstar Grant Hill and superstar-in-training Tracy McGrady signed on the dotted line. McGrady and Hill will now attempt to do their best Michael Jordan - Scottie Pippen impersonation, while the supporting cast continues working hard to do the dirty work.

Miami Heat

It appears that the Heat were getting tired of having highly successful NBA regular seasons only to lose to the New York Knicks in the playoffs. So, they shook up much of the team's core, trading Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown away and receiving Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason, and also adding Brian Grant. Forgetting position for a moment, Eddie Jones is better than Jamal Mashburn, and Anthony Mason is at least as good as P.J. Brown, and far more versatile. Brian Grant can do everything P.J. Brown did, provided he can stay healthy. If they keep (a healthy) Tim Hardaway, this is a fearsome defensive team. Scoring on Jones, Mason, Grant and Mourning is a potential nightmare.
 

San Antonio Spurs

David Robinson talked Tim Duncan into re-signing with the team. Mario Elie is gone, but in his place is the newly signed Derek Anderson. Anderson can't defend like Elie can, err, used to be able to, but he can score, rebound and pass. Big upgrade. While this team has no depth compared to the Blazers, the combination of a healthy Duncan and Robinson along with a decent supporting cast means championship contention.
 

Dallas Mavericks

Kept stars Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki, added point guard Howard Eisley, power forward Christian Laettner, rookie power forward Etan Thomas, and rookie scoring sensation guard Courtney Alexander. Fantastic summer. Look for Dallas to continue doing what they did the final two months of last season - win huge amounts of games. This should be a playoff team. All hail Nels... err, Cuban.
 

Honorable Mentions

Milwaukee Bucks

They kept Tim Thomas, kept Darvin Ham, and traded junk away for Lindsey Hunter, who isn't someone you want as your main point guard, but he's definitely a terrific player to be able to bring off the bench.
 

Los Angeles Clippers

Keyon Dooling, Quentin Richardson, Darius Miles, Lamar Odom and Corey Maggette should be lots of fun to watch, even if they lose most of their games like good Clippers are suppossed to.

InsideHoops.com

9/14/2000
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