Your Teams upcoming season

[.]

Los Angeles Lakers

Teams Additions:
Lamar Odom
Caron Butler
Brian Grant
Vlade Divac
Chucky Atkins
Chris Mihm
Jumaine Jones
Sasha Vujacic (draft)
Tony Bobbit (draft)
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9 Additions

Teams Losses:
Shaquille O´Neal
Gary Payton
Rick Fox
Horace Grant
Bryon Russell
Derek Fisher
Jamal Sampson
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7 Losses

Statistic Additions/Losses
Added: 61.8 Points per Game, 35.6 Rebounds Per Game
Lost: 59.0 Points per Game, 32.0 Rebounds Per Game

Offseason:

This years offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers has been the biggest one since they got Shaquille O´Neal due Free Agency, and traded for Kobe Bryant who would turn out in a superstar. This years offseason has been in the name of rebuilding and getting younger. They were forced to trade away their Superstar and most dominant player of all time Shaquille O´Neal because of some offcourt and salary issues, which is a huge loss because he was the biggest reason the Lakers got into 3-peat land during the 1999-2000(MVP)/2000-2001/2001-2002 seasons. You can never replace that kind of a player, but you can replace him with younger talent and perhaps 2 stars in the making in Lamar Odom and Caron Butler and hope that they can win championships in the future. Dont get me wrong, I would rather keep Shaq then adding those player, but its a buisness I supose.

After that trade they added talent, and a good player on every position (Grant-5/Odom-4/Butler-3/Kobe-2/Payton-1), but they lacked a bigman on the 5 spot, so they signed former Kings player Vlade Divac to fill in that 5 spot, move Brian Grant to his original position, slide Odom down to the 3 spot where he has the height advantage over nearly every SF in the NBA, and adding a good bench with Caron Butler as the first player to come off the bench. Vlade might not be the youngest, but he is still 1 of the top centers in the league (Im saying this because of the lack of real centers today), he has a shooting range, great passer for his size and is 1 of those players that can get seriously in Shaqs way.

Thats a big roster change right there, but they werent done yet. They traded away their starting pointguard Gary Payton, along with Rick Fox, a future 1st round pick and some cash for Marcus Banks who Mitch always wanted in LA since the year he has been drafted, Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins and a second round draft pick. At first I thought, the Lakers got the better part of this deal, because they had a hole at the second center spot, which they could fill with Chris Mihm, I never really see him play so I cant give my opinion about him, but he can get injured quickly. They would use Marcus Banks at the starting Point guard, who ranks among the leagues fastest players, and is a very good defensive player, something what would be usefull for the Lakers, who have to face Tony Parker and the Spurs, and Sam Cassel and His Timberwolves 4 times a year. And Chucky Atkins, a veteran pointguard who also can play some defense and is a good outside shooter, this fills Derek Fishers spot who signed with the Golden State Warriors. BUT.....Gary Payton didnt report to the Boston Celtics and doesnt want to move his family to Boston, which eventually would lead into a trade change, they would get Jumaine Jones instead of Marcus Banks. That means another Small Forward next to Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Devean George and Luke Walton. A loss, since the trade was suposed to be about getting Marcus Banks as the future point guard of the Lakers.

Why they traded gary Payton, I dont know. The Lakers will play a running game this upcoming season, and Gary would seem to be a great fit to that and he might return to his Bucks and late Sonics days where he still was 1 of the best Pointguard in the league, he also agreed to play another season with the Lakers even if Shaq was traded away, who was the reason why he came here in the first place. The Lakers showed no respect to him and just threw him away like garbage (I think this was much more worse then what they did to Shaq). I would love to see him in the purple and gold for another season, but I guess that wont happen. The only good that came out of this was getting rid of Rick Fox.

Before the trade happend, they also signed Kobe Bryant, the leagues most wanted Free Agent to a multi-year contract which will mean he will be a Laker for 7 more years if he wont end up in jail (what wont happen most likely) or get traded (same). Also, they got rid of Phil Jackson and replaced him with Rudy T, a former Rockets coach who won 2 championships in the 90´s with Hakeem Olajuwon.

Upcoming season:

They added alot of talent, but that doesnt mean they will play as good as it sounds on paper. By adding alot of new players, plus a new coach, that means that they will have to learn how to play together under their new offense, this is something that wont be done like that in training camp and might take a few months to create a team. I expect the Lakers to have a sligthly above .500 start in the first few months of the season, and later get a few winning runs once they learned how to play with eachother and reach to their full potentials within the team. Leader Kobe Bryant will probably have a 2002/03 type of season now that the offense is adjusted for him to create on his full potential, and the team will end up with a 48-34 record and followed with a win in the first round of the playoffs, but only to get defeated by the Spurs or Timberwolves in the second round.

Summary

The Lakers get something what bothered them the past to years, depth on the roster, but to do that they were forced to change that for domination. I do not think this will get them a championship soon, and I think it will be a succesfull season for them if they are able to get out of the first round. If they do that, they donw what I expected from them and I will be happy. Karl Malone might be a big difference, if you put him on the 4 position, you will have a big boost in Brian Grant coming off the bench and a smart player who can run the floor in the offense with a good defender who can bother Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in the defense.

I dont think the Lakers will play this season with 5 small forwards, and I expect them to make another move soon or later. We will have to wait for that, but they are not done yet.

Post your predictions about your team.

[twolvezfanfoever]

Minnesota Timberwolves

No moves!

Don't need additions. Team we have is great already. If team can stay healthy when it matters the most. We are then next champions. And no one can argue on that one.

[.]

And no one can argue on that one.

Ehm, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves, and they were defeated by the Pistons so that means they still have a bigger shot at winning the championship, because Minnesota didnt change much.

[twolvezfanfoever]

And no one can argue on that one.

Ehm, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves, and they were defeated by the Pistons so that means they still have a bigger shot at winning the championship, because Minnesota didnt change much.

We dont need to change because if Sam I Am and Hudson were healthy during that season, we would of done the same thang Detroit did to them.Its about 100 sports articles that agree with me.Ask riot too.

[Jackal]

What if, what if, what if. Quit making excuses, LA beat them. Shutup & quit whining. Why is it so hard to give credit where due? Oooh, LA could've won if Malone was healthy blah blah. Stfu, they got their asses handed to them.

Ask Riot? Wow, good source.

[air gordon]

Ehm, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves, and they were defeated by the Pistons so that means they still have a bigger shot at winning the championship, because Minnesota didnt change much.[/color]

to double check...do you mean the lakers have a bigger shot of winning it all because they beat the twolves en route to the finals this past year and because the twovles didn't make any changes this offseason... even when you earlier said the lakers took a step back by trading the main reason for their championships?

man that all red font bunched together is tough on the eyes

[Matthew]

Knicks

Additions:
Jamal Crawford
Jerome Williams
Trevor Ariza (rookie)

Losses:
Mutumbo
Frank Williams
Othella Harrington

Offseason
New York pretty much made all their moves when Isiah Thomas came midway through last season. There was alot of hype for players comming to New York (Dampier, Vince, kobe lol) but New York kept its hand, and it's only move landed them underapreciated Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams for some spare parts. New York, imo, has the best backcourt in the league, with Marbury, Houston, Penny, Shandon Anderson and Jamal Crawford.
But, despite that, I think New Yorks best deal was deciding to keep Vin Baker and Kurt Thomas instead of aquiring Eric Dampier. Kurt Thomas is a versatile big man, who plays on both ends of the floor, and vin baker has as much chance of breaking out as dampier has of duplicating his last season.

Upcoming season

I think this Knick team, despite being grossly overpaid, has the chance to sneak up on alot of teams. The talent is there... but is the desire? I think New York can make the second round, but thats about it.

[.]

Ehm, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves, and they were defeated by the Pistons so that means they still have a bigger shot at winning the championship, because Minnesota didnt change much.[/color]

to double check...do you mean the lakers have a bigger shot of winning it all because they beat the twolves en route to the finals this past year and because the twovles didn't make any changes this offseason... even when you earlier said the lakers took a step back by trading the main reason for their championships?

Nah, at this moment the Wolves have a bigger chance at winning it. But what I meant was that this year the Lakers with Shaq, GP, Kobe and Malone were better then the Timberwolves, but the Pistons were better then the Lakers, so what makes him thnk that the Wolves would be better then the Pistons without making any offseason move. If the Wolves couldnt beat a team that was lost to the Pistons in the finals (Lakers), what makes him think that they(Wolves) will beat Detroit?...get it?

man that all red font bunched together is tough on the eyes

Well, its better then this isnt it?

[Rens]

Raptors add Araujo, Woods, Alston and lose a bunch of scrubs.

More importantly, we overhaul the front office and get a new coach.

40 wins baby. On to 50.

[twolvezfanfoever]

Raptors add Araujo, Woods, Alston and lose a bunch of scrubs.

More importantly, we overhaul the front office and get a new coach.

40 wins baby. On to 50.

thats if vinsanity doesn't leave

[ATTENTIONWHORE]

Lakers are fucked. Trade Shaq=Lottery. I don't care who they brought in; bring in Tim Legler....they're still not gonna be at the level they once were.

[MikeBibby]

Kings

martin

beathal

ostertag

kevin martin is the only move i think that's gonna help them......it adds a good shooter

[ATTENTIONWHORE]

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[Repole]

Celtics

Additions:
Gary Payton?
Rick Fox?
Tom Gugliotta
Al Jefferson
Delonte West
Tony Allen

Losses:
Chris Mihm
Chucky Atkins
Jumaine Jones
Brandon Hunter

Offseason
Boston's offseason will be looked at very positivly after this next year when rick fox and gary payton come off the books, and a few years from now Al Jefferson hopefully ready to take on a bigger role. The Celtics biggest move this offseason was getting Lafrentz healthy again, he is a huge key to how successful the celts are this upcomming year. Right now, with Payton looking like he's ready to retire, the celtics really didnt improve much immediatly, but it was a solid offseason for Ainge and the Celts none the less.

Upcoming season
If Gary Payton reports i think the Celts will win the Atlantic with relative ease. Dispite being on the decline, Paytons still a solid player, who when surrounded by Pierce, Welsch, Lafrentz, and Blount (who certainly wont demand the ball like kobe, shaq, etc) could look like a lot more like the gary payton of old again. Without Payton i think the Celts still have a shot at the Atlantic division, mainly due to Lafrentz coming back healthy, and jiri welsch, who i expect to improve on last season and really break out, possibly at the point guard position if bank's doesnt impress. With two solid Big men in Blount and Lafrentz, and a SF/SG rotation containing pierce, welsch, and davis i think the celts could be dangerous. But then again, i'm quite a bias fan...

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Memphis Grizzlies

Additions:
Brian Cardinal
Andre Emmett
Antonio Burks
Stromile Swift (Looks like he will sign back with us because if the Hawks offer him something, West will match it)

Losses:
Jake Tskalidis

Offseason Even though we weren't able to get the big man we wanted, we still are a playoff team. After adding Cardinal, we got even better than what we were last year. We now have a great shooter coming off the bench in Cardinal. Adding Emmett to the team was a very good move. I can tell he will be a good player in the future. I don't know if I can say the same about Burks yet because he was hurt during the summer league. Dahntay Jones also improved during the off-season.

Upcoming season
The Grizzlies should do well in the 04-05 season. They have a pretty easy schedule to start off the season and that's something we haven't had since the team moved to Memphis. The first few games, will give us enough time to see if we will have a lineup of Swift and Gasol in the frontcourt or Gasol and Wright. We will also see if Bonzi will start over Miller. I expect another 50 or more win season from the Grizzlies and we will grab a spot between 4-6 in the playoffs.

[Uga]

The Kings added Bluthenthal , not beathal
by adding Martin who you say is a good shooter , and Bluethenthal who is one of the best shooters Ive seen , well in Europe at least , the Kings added some good fire power this year

[Riot]

mafia, stro isn't an addition if he was already on your team last year.


Wolves haven't added anyone but we have lost:
Darrick Martin: sucks
Gary Trent: sucks
Oliver Miller: funny as hell, sucks

We added Blake Stepp, that's really it.

Of course, we are still the best because now we have more chemistry and maybe we can stay a little more heathly *hudson being heathly puts less pressure on Sammy, Wally being heathly puts less pressure on Spre*

it'll be a fun year.

[Jackal]

Hehe, just because those players left, they suck. I'm sure had they re-signed you'd love it. You even made Googs to be a shiznit player.

Hehe, funny!

[Riot]

actually, i've been hating on Martin all year because he just plain blows.

Gary Trent was cool but he can't play defense worth a lick and the onyl reason we kept him around is because him and KG are best friends.

Oliver Miller is a great passer, i wouldn't be surprised if he comes back but he isn't that good and he's a liablity on defense.

Googs is good, I like him. He was suppose to come to the wolves

I hope this doesn't mean we resign Gary Trent.

[magius]

team to beat is detroit. Phoenix almost beat san antonio year before this, does that mean they would've won everything if they had? Steph got injured (but kept playing) to boot, so by your logic the suns (if they had stayed healthy this year, which they didnt) wouldve won the championship this year if they were healthy (and stayed together) because they almost beat the champions they year before? Dont think so.

twolves are definitely top 3 though, but far far far from guarantee, which means you can argue it.

[Jackal]

twolves are definitely top 3 though, but far far far from guarantee, which means you can argue it.

bah, u sock!11!!!! kg = woah!! he handling...he leading better!!1!one!1oneone!! stupid

You can't argue anything with him, for a good argument you need facts, not ramblings from a biased Wolves fan.

[Rens]

thats if vinsanity doesn't leave

What, like just retiring or something? Cause that's the only way he's leaving Toronto. He doesn't even want to leave.

[magius]

wolves fans are the new lakers fans

p.s. just kidding!!!! bad comparison. the laker fans actually had championships to flaunt first!

p.s.s. just kidding!!! dont hurt me.......

[Riot]

Why? Because I think my team is going to win? Because I think my team was the better team? I think if we had our all-star point guard and his starter-capable backup we would have won. It's my opinion, but it's also millions others too.

I think Kevin Garnett is better than Tim Duncan? Is that why? Well, I think he is. I think it's quite obvious too.

Spurs have always been better than the Wolves. This year, I finally think it's different.

[hmm]

....................................