* The biggest news this past offseason was the defection of Ben Wallace from the Detroit Pistons to the Chicago Bulls. A few weeks into the season, it seems as if it was much ado about nothing. The Bulls were already one of the top defensive teams in the league last season, so adding the two-time reigning defensive player of the year only made the team stronger in an area of strength.
* Instead of overspending for the one-dimensional Wallace, the Bulls may have been better off keeping Tyson Chandler, a younger defensive center, while spending the money used on Wallace to find a more consistent scoring threat to pair with Ben Gordon. The team would be much more well-rounded and besides, something tells me that an aging center with declining skills and no ability on offense is not going to be worth a $60 million dollar investment over four years.
* Can you name the leading scorer on the Sacramento Kings? Mike Bibby? No, guess again. Ron Artest? No, keep going. Brad Miller? Shareef Abdur-Rahim? Nice try, but no. The leading scorer on the Kings is none other than Kevin Martin. Yes, Kevin Martin — and he's for real. He was a scorer in college and showed last year that he could put the ball in the basket when he filled in for the injured Bonzi Wells.
Still, most people who drafted Martin in their fantasy drafts were probably a little peeved initially because they were most likely attempting to select Kenyon Martin of the Denver Nuggets. All's well that ends well, however, as Kenyon is done for the year due to another injury, while Kevin should be a household name by year's end. Don't make a similar mistake next year, fantasy basketball players. You wouldn't want to end up with Kenyon Martin.
* Speaking of the real deal, I hope nobody's overlooking the Utah Jazz. Although it's early in the season, there isn't any reason to think that Utah's hot start is a fluke. The team has four players scoring over 12 a game and six players scoring over nine a game.
The crazy part is that none of these players is Andrei Kirilenko, Utah's best all-around player. Utah's front line is not only big, but very versatile. Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur can both score down low and can both step out to hit the jumper. Moreover, there are few better rebounders than Boozer and few big men that possess the shooting range of Okur.
Kirilenko, when healthy, can do it all-step out and hit the three, block the shot of anyone on the court, menace the offense into a turnover, and finish on the break. In the backcourt, Deron Williams is playing off-the-charts, like he did in his final season at the University of Illinois and is making Utah fans forget that the team passed on Chris Paul to take him.
Furthermore, the team has a quintet of dependable backups and role players that every championship contender needs. Matt Harpring would be a starter for many teams, yet comes off the bench for Utah and is essential to the team's success considering Kirilenko's history of injuries. Gordan Giricek, a starter last year, now provides instant offense off the bench.
The most intriguing options off the bench are two rookies, swingman Ronnie Brewer and big man Paul Millsap. Brewer is a great athlete who can defend and score a little while Millsap, like Boozer, is a force to be reckoned with on the glass. As a matter of fact, he was college basketball's leading rebounder last year at Karl Malone's alma mater, Louisiana Tech.
Derek Fisher was brought in because Utah management understands how close this team is to winning it all. Fisher, a great defensive point guard with three championship rings and a penchant for hitting big shots, is the player that could put the Jazz over the top. Coach Jerry Sloan is one of the best in the game's history and he knows how to make all of these pieces fit. Yes, the Jazz players have always been injury-prone and surely that's a strike against them. Then again, they haven't been this talented or this deep since they were last contending for a championship in the 1990s.
* Danny Ainge has assembled a roster filled with dynamic, young talent. There are some problems with this, however. First, with so many young players capable of contributing, it becomes difficult for any of them to develop into their full potential in Boston because there just aren't enough minutes to go around.
Second, the team's "Batman," Paul Pierce, and his "Robin," Wally Szczerbiak, are in their primes right now. If the Celtics have the goal of winning with Pierce and Szczerbiak, then they need to move some of this young talent for another star player, such as Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O'Neal. If they want to build around youth, then they need to trade Pierce and Wallyworld for more cap space, draft picks, and young players.
The way it stands now, the Celtics don't have enough around "Batman" and "Robin" to seriously contend for a championship and while the team sits on its hands waiting for the "baby Celtics" to progress, it's two all-stars will inevitably begin to regress.
* Lastly, Orlando center Dwight Howard is a beast on the boards and unguardable down low. When he entered the league, most comparisons were with Kevin Garnett. Yes, he's quick and rangy like K.G., but his game is not as polished. Instead, his game is reminiscent of a young Shaquille O'Neal. He uses his athleticism and strength to push people around under the basket, grab boards, and throw down thunderous dunks. If he develops a jump shot like Garnett did, he will no longer just be unguardable down low, but this K.G./Shaq hybrid might be just plain unguardable.
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