Sport Chit Chat

Hello all and welcome back. Time now for the LOSERS of this years off season. Last time around I crowned The Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and The City Of Oklahoma as winners this off season. I think that losers are less apparent this time around as lots of teams improved themselves. Losers will become more apparent as the season starts and one can see which teams needed to improve.

Losers

Atlanta Hawks: I think this one is a no brainier. After hitting an emotional high by taking the would be NBA Champion Boston Celtics to a game 7, the Hawks have hit a big low with a disgraceful off season. By this point we all know about Josh Childress’ departure for Europe and the media frenzy that has created. The Hawks really just needed to “man up” and offer Childress the money he deserved. He was a clutch player in the series against Boston and his contribution will not easily be replaced. Additionally, the fate of Josh Smith is still up in the air and to lose him would put the Hawks back years. After finally showing some life this past season I wonder whether the Hawks will be destined for the lottery once again. Minus even a draft pick to be hopeful for, Al Horford seems to be the only attraction in Hotlanta these days. Hopefully a sign and trade can be orchestrated with Smith if they can’t sign him, if not it’s looking quite grim for the low flying Hawks.

Dallas Mavericks: Ok, so it’s not that the Mavs “lost” anyone this off season, but they haven’t gained anything while all the teams around them got better. New Orleans is young and getting better, The Lakers will have Bynum back, The Trailblazer with Oden will be much improved, The Clippers made a push by adding Camby and Davis, and the Rockets stepped it up by adding Ron Artest. All this happened while Dallas stood around and did nothing (and don’t tell me signing Diop is anything special). The Jason Kidd trade did not pay off as they were eliminated in the first round last year. But it is a situation they are stuck with. Kidd is too slow to compete with the likes of Chris Paul, clear in the fact that Paul replaced Kidd as Team USA’s starting PG. The Mavs are on the decline and their window has closed, even Magic Johnson agrees. Add on the dispute with ex-coach Don Nelson and Josh Howards street racing infractions and the Mavs are in for a tough season. Don’t be surprised when they are sellers at the deadline.

Tim Donaghy: Amongst all the hoopla of the NBA off season there was still the sad story of Tim Donaghy. A ref who let greed and money separate him from his pride and the integrity of the game. Sentenced to 15 months in prison, something I would say is light, Donaghy has done something much more than just earn himself an orange jumpsuit. Donaghy has placed forever doubt in the minds of NBA viewers for some time. And with his implications of other refs, and his comments about buddy-buddy relationships between refs and players, the NBA has a big situation to deal with. Thoughts of, “Did that ref make the right call on purpose, or was he swayed?” and “Should that ref be laughing with that player?” will litter the minds of NBA viewers. I hope this can be put behind us, but I worry it wont be. For creating a situation in which the trust in referees is up for debate, Donaghy you are a definite loser.

Thanks for listening & get ready for NBA Fantasy 08-09 by checking out Rotoworlds sleeper list

-Maxmillien

Say goodbye to the fro, Childress chooses Europe over NBA.

Championship Impact: This has little to no impact here. What it does do, is make Atlanta’s chances of making the playoffs and improving on last season decrease. Childress’ departure will hurt the Hawks.

Long Term Impact: Again, this only hurts the Hawks. They loose their glue guy and a young player who was coming into his own. What this does is further push a growing trend of players moving to Europe over continuing in the NBA. Players such as Carlos Delfino, Primoz Brezec, Bostjan Nachbar & others, have chosen to move their careers overseas. True Hoop questions whether this may happen again and how we should take this as Childress is the first American born player to make this move. I think it is very interesting and should be taken as a sign that NBA teams need to step up and pay their stars or are at risk of losing them. The Hawks did not offer Childress the money he though he deserved and rightfully so he went elsewhere. The long term impact here is that this trend could expand to other players and the NBA is at risk of losing some of its great talent.

Fantasy Impact: Not so much here. Other players on the Hawks stand to gain as Joe Johnson & Mike Bibby retain their value. Salim Stoudemaire could take more minutes at SG while the Hawks will still need to fill in their back-up SF spot. Keep an eye our for more Hawks moves. If Josh Smith goes elsewhere the Hawks will be in serious trouble and may go from promising young team to lottery team in no time.