NBA Offseason Winners and Losers

Loser: Atlanta Hawks

Was there any doubt? In recent years, the Hawks have become as synonymous with losing as George W. Bush and bad diplomacy. In a draft that most experts believed had six players standing above the rest, the Hawks decided to guarantee Shelden Williams, a player definitely outside this top six, that they would choose him with the fifth pick.

I understand the thinking. The Hawks could definitely use some more help up front and they really liked Shelden Williams. General managers don't get paid to listen to the pundits. They get paid to make sound basketball decisions. With that said, the Houston Rockets were desperate to move into the draft's top six and had the eighth pick. The Hawks could have traded down and still got their man, plus some.

Furthermore, it strikes me as odd as to why the Hawks were so transparent throughout the draft process. It was hypothesized by all the talking heads in the media that the only lock in the draft was that the Hawks would take Williams. Why show your hand? In a draft where player evaluations varied greatly depending on who you talked to, there was no reason to make it known that your organization fancied one of the guys nobody was even talking about. There was even less reason to guarantee the choice.

Seriously, I would like to play fantasy sports with Atlanta general manager Billy Knight. He doesn't understand the concept of "leverage."

Maybe the biggest reason, however, that the Hawks are on the "loser" list again is their inability to add a primary ball-handler. Sure, they added Craig "Speedy" Claxton, but Claxton is best suited for a team that is already good or, at least, on the upswing. Atlanta looks to improve with Claxton running the point, but much of that is due to guys like Royal Ivey and Tyronn Lue being the incumbents at the position.

With the amount of athleticism and talent that Atlanta has at the wings, a ball-handling playmaker could really make the Hawks a good young team. There is still hope that they can bring one aboard by signing and trading Al Harrington. As it stands now, however, Atlanta's primary point guard is a perfect complementary player on a team that instead needs a difference maker.

Winner: Minnesota Timberwolves

Kevin McHale keeps finding different ways to screw up. In the past, the Timberwolves' general manager has given an illegal contract to a player, resulting in the forfeiture of numerous draft picks and a lot of money. For the most part, he's done a poor job when he actually does have draft picks. Does anybody remember Paul Grant, William Avery, and Ndudi Ebi? Yeah, me neither.

Well, this year, McHale was able to find yet another unconventional way to screw something up. With the sixth pick, the Timberwolves drafted Brandon Roy when they really wanted Randy Foye, who, incidentally, was still available. Their goal was to trade Roy to Houston for Foye and someone else. Portland had traded into the seventh slot and was enamored with Roy. Knowing Minnesota's preference for Foye, Portland drafted him after Minnesota grabbed Brandon Roy and subsequently traded Foye to Minnesota for Roy. (Trust me, if the names didn't rhyme, this wouldn't seem so confusing.)

To sum up, Minnesota traded its sixth pick for the seventh pick without getting anything extra in return. Sure, it's the difference of one pick, but Portland traded into that slot with the intention of getting Roy. It seems to me that the Trail Blazers had a lot to lose if they didn't get him. Minnesota was not in such a desperate situation. Minnesota should have dictated the terms of that deal, not Portland.

Despite all of this, Minnesota got who it wanted and that's why the team is in the "winner" column. I just couldn't let another McHale slip-up go unmentioned. For his part, however, McHale has identified his team's biggest weakness and acquired the best fit in an attempt to address it. For years, Minnesota has relied on the jump shot to win games. Exclusively jump-shooting teams have seen success in the playoffs, but few, if any, have won it all. Of course, shooting is a key, but the common denominator for the elite teams has been an ability to get to the line.

To this end, there is no doubt in my mind that Kevin McHale watched the phenomenal Dwayne Wade show off his unstoppable game in the Finals and a light went off. In today's NBA, the rules have made it so the teams that have quick, penetrating guards who are able to get to the line are at a distinct advantage over the teams without. These quick guards now draw hand check fouls at the slightest contact and when the defenders back off they draw fouls on the big men.

It's completely changed the game as a whole and it changes every individual game, as well. Guys like Wade, Kobe, and LeBron can get easy points at the line while putting their respective defenders in foul trouble, and forcing the opposition to accumulate team fouls, placing them in the penalty earlier in the game. The Dallas Mavericks got on board with this philosophy last season and ended up in the Finals.

This is what Randy Foye brings to the table. He is the college player most compared to the aforementioned Wade. In the summer league, he was so unstoppable that scouts had a hard time critiquing his jumper because it was rare when he had to settle for one. On top of that, he's a great ball-handler and would seem to be a perfect complement to the league's most unselfish superstar, Kevin Garnett. Randy Foye is the remedy to what ails the Wolves.

Although Foye could end up being the player with the biggest impact, the acquisition that has brought the most fanfare is that of point guard Mike James. Another great addition, James brings a very good jump-shot to a team that is suddenly lacking pure jump-shooters after last season's trade of Wally Szczerbiak to the Celtics. He is an excellent perimeter defender — a commodity in today's NBA, can score, and doesn't mind taking big shots. Additionally, James has worked for everything he's received in the NBA, so he's tenacious, scrappy, and let's not forget that he's been on a championship squad (2004 Detroit Pistons).

The T-Wolves have offense. They have defense. They have shooting and athleticism. They have a superstar. They have veteran leadership. With Ricky Davis, Trenton Hassell, Mark Blount, Rashad McCants, Eddie Griffin, Marko Jaric, and Troy Hudson still on board, they have plenty of depth and versatility. If they can build chemistry together, they could end up with a lot more.

Loser: Detroit Pistons

Several months back, I wrote that we would be talking about the Pistons as one of the best teams in NBA history. Whoops! Never underestimate the importance of team chemistry. It was team chemistry that brought the Pistons a title in 2004. It was chemistry that allowed them to play like a well-oiled machine for most of last year.

Then, it got interesting. It seemed like the players got a little too cocky, and a little too vocal for their own good. A group that had personified "team" was griping about the offense, the defense, the coach — you name it. Before they knew it, the season was over. Ask the Timberwolves of 2005 what happens when you mess with team chemistry. It takes so long to build, that it's very hard to regain once it's lost.

Perhaps the single most significant player to the Detroit team chemistry was Ben Wallace. Ben Wallace, the ultimate team player, was focused on the dirty work. He got rebounds, blocked shots, and was spectacular in team defense. Ironically, he's at his best playing "help" defense. Because he was so key in helping team chemistry, it should be of no surprise that he could be so instrumental in tearing it apart. Remember, it was Wallace who, at one point, totally disregarded his coach and refused to go back into a game and it was also Big Ben Wallace who complained most vehemently about Flip Saunders' coaching in general.

Ben Wallace was supposed to be an integral component in re-establishing the lost chemistry. Instead, he's the biggest free-agency defector this offseason and will try to forge a brand new chemistry with his new Chicago Bulls teammates. What's made it worse for the Pistons is that Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in the draft that included LeBron, Carmelo, Wade, and Bosh, was sent packing last year in order for the Pistons to free up money to be able to re-sign Ben Wallace. Now, Big Ben is helping a division rival while Darko Milicic looks to be one of the key young building blocks on an emerging Orlando ballclub — a team in Detroit's conference.

To be honest, I don't think Wallace is the player that most make him out to be. Although he is good at what he does, he's completely obsolete on one side of the ball and is not the best individual defender in the world. He is a role player, albeit an exceptional one and this is precisely why his loss hurts so much. He's an exceptional role player because he takes on so many of the "non-skilled" basketball roles like rebounding and help defense, as well as the non-basketball roles pertaining to toughness, heart, and leadership.

The open question for the Pistons is "who can play his role?" Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, and Rasheed Wallace were able to stick tight to their men because they knew that if they got burned, Ben Wallace had the mindset and the quickness to be there to help. Richard Hamilton can't guard anyone at all, so having Big Ben there to help clean up his messes was close to necessary. Ben Wallace defined the toughness of the Pistons. Without him, they don't seem so tough. He's a guy that's nearly impossible to replace because he was responsible for doing all the little things that allowed the others to focus on doing what they do best.

On the plus side, the Pistons gained Nazr Mohammed to help compensate for Ben Wallace's departure. Although he's a good player, it remains unseen as to whether he can do what the Pistons need him to do. The Pistons are also hoping that their sixth man from last year, big man Antonio McDyess, can take on some extra work.

The team also added guard, Ronald "Flip" Murray, an offensive mastermind with no ability to play defense whatsoever. He is there to replace Maurice Evans, who was curiously traded away for a second-rounder Cheick Samb. Murray's addition gives them an intriguing scoring option off the bench and maybe, just maybe, Joe Dumars is getting the offensive players that his coach likes. This team, however, didn't lose much offense. Instead, with the departure of Ben Wallace, it lost team leadership, team defense, team chemistry, and consequently, any real shot of winning another championship any time soon.

Winner: San Antonio

On paper, it seems the Spurs lost more than they gained this season. Both of their on-again, off-again starting centers, Rasho Nesterovic and Nazr Mohammed, have left the building. In their place come an array of role players who may not seem exciting to Spurs fans, but may end up being exactly what their team needs to get back on top.

Gregg Popovich and RC Buford, the two guys in charge of personnel for the team get it. As a matter of fact, they've shown from day one that they know what to do to build a championship-caliber team. The Spurs have never been the team to make a big splash, yet have won a few titles and contended for many more. If something isn't working, the personnel department adjusts accordingly with a tweak here and a tweak there. This offseason has just been more of the same.

During the playoffs, both Mohammed and Nesterovic were essentially forced to the bench for long stretches due to the faster pace of play that has become so vogue in the league. For the same reasons that rendered Chris Kaman largely ineffective for the Clippers in the playoffs, Rasho and Nazr were almost irrelevant. The faster pace rewards the athletes. Although both of the former Spurs were very skilled big men, they left a lot to be desired in athleticism. San Antonio has replaced them with younger, more athletic types who are already developing legitimate big man skills.

Nazr Mohammed departed to Detroit as a free agent and Nesterovic was traded to Toronto for forwards Matt Bonner and Eric Williams. After failing in its attempt to bring in Alonzo Mourning, San Antonio made two very shrewd moves. The Spurs signed both Jackie Butler of the Knicks and Francisco Elson of the Nuggets, two young, athletic big men, to offer sheets. Both players were restricted free agents on teams that each already had a plethora of signed players and more specifically, a plethora of signed big men. So, the Spurs swooped in, offering each more than what he was previously earning, knowing that New York and Denver, respectively, would each be reluctant to match. By no means, however, did the Spurs have to break the bank.

Elson has shown that he can be both tough and nasty — two huge pluses for a team in search of a title. Moreover, he's already seen substantial minutes in the NBA as a fill-in starter and is playoff-tested, as well. Butler, on the other hand, is still very young. He was a player that came out of high school only to not hear his name called during the draft. He played well in his limited time in New York and could flourish in the right environment and, of course, under the tutelage of Popovich and Tim Duncan. In the end, these new Spurs could end up matching or even exceeding the production of their predecessors for a fraction of the cost.

The team also signed Jacque Vaughn as a third point guard. He's a great insurance policy considering it's still unknown as to whether Nick Van Exel will retire and whether Beno Udrih can start showing some of the consistency Greg Popovich wants out of a point guard. Like Vaughn, Eric Williams, acquired in the Nesterovic deal is a good team player who can defend and usually be counted on to play smart-another must for a contending team.

The diamond in the rough in the Toronto deal, however, is Bonner. "The Red Rocket" was a fan favorite in Toronto for his ability to just help his team. Although he's not great at anything, he's skilled at many things ranging from rebounding to busting threes. To top it off, he's a hustler — in a good way. He dives on the floor, seems to come up with all the loose balls, and hits big shots. In short, he just gets it done. Perfect for a team that's all about just getting it done.