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//  Saturday, July 31, 2010

NBA Superpowers Dominate Off-Season

Friday, July 3, 2009
Posted by Neil Conklin

The 08-09 NBA season began with two returning superpowers from the previous year: Boston and L.A. The Lebrons quickly emerged as a force to be reckoning with, earning the league's best record by year's end. Orlando hung around throughout most of the season, eventually peaking at the right time and exploiting tough match-ups to beat Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now, less than a month after the Finals, the league's best are only getting better. Orlando started the fireworks by trading for perennial all-star Vince Carter. Cleveland responded only hours later by finally pulling the trigger on a deal for Shaquille O'Neal. Plagued by injuries for much of last year, San Antonio quickly got into the trade mix, bringing in Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee.

It looks as if both L.A. and Boston are going to join in on the fun as well. Reports have surfaced that the Lakers have reached a 3-year deal with former Houston Rocket Ron Artest. Meanwhile, Boston appears to be going after Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics sent Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all to Detroit on Thursday to try and lure Wallace to the east coast. A good friend of forward Kevin Garnett, many feel Wallace will sign with the Celtics for mid-level exception after he realizes the other teams interested in him will be unable to offer him anything higher.

While other teams have made big moves and signings as well, it seems as if last year's big four will be joined by San Antonio as the teams to beat in the NBA next year. Lucky for fans, this fab-five of NBA superpowers will be accompanied by numerous sub-plots. Kobe and the Lakers will attempt to repeat as champions, while Shaq will try and spoil the party by joining forces with King James. Kobe, Shaq, and Tim Duncan will all embark separately on campaigns for that illustrious 5th ring. The Celtics hope to rebound with a healthy Kevin Garnett and possibly versatile forward/center Rasheed Wallace coming off the bench. Meanwhile, the Magic will try and show the league that last season was no fluke, as Dwight Howard matures into a dominant superstar and Vince Carter joins a championship caliber team for the first time in his career.

The rest of the league will be looking up the Celtics, Lakers, Magic, Cavs, and Spurs all year. We may be looking at the strongest set of 5 teams the league has seen in a long time. Each one has at least one superstar, at least 3 all-star caliber players, a dominant big-man, and at least one dominant scorer. The Celtics and Lakers have the history. The Spurs have the Tim Duncan dynasty of the last decade. Cleveland has the best player on the plant and a global icon in Lebron James. Orlando has the league's next dominant big-man. The Celtics, Lakers, and Spurs all seem to be trying to win one or maybe even two more titles before their respective windows close. Orlando and Cleveland are young and emerging teams trying to make it over the hump.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing here is that all 5 teams have valuable recent playoff experience. This group contains the last 3 conference champions from each league, and the last 3 NBA titles (Spurs, Celtics, Lakers). All 5 teams have gotten used to playing against each other over the years. Most of them have faced each other in the playoffs, with the Celtics and Lakers each having faced 3 out of the other 4 in the last two years alone. On the eve of the most anticipated free agency class in history, the 2010 playoffs looks to be a dog fight of epic proportions. Assuming all 5 teams stay healthy, NBA fans have a lot to be excited about next year.

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