ESPN - Stein: Ranking the East teams on their offseason moves - NBA

I won't paraphrase the article, but it is interesting that an ESPN analyst thinks so highly of our offseason, although I agree completely.

I think I'd agree regarding the state of things of Pistons. About the other teams? Well, there could be an argument, but I think if we're only talking about the summer moves than I would most likely concur.

I must admit that I am excited about alot of things. The Lions might actually beat Philly. The Pistons Reloaded. A new season of Heroes. Whew!!!

Ainge's use of mirrors in Boston just shows how naively vane the media is.

One of the aging big three will go down with an injury and while the Celtics may make the playoffs this year, they have no future other than Baby Shaq, who may have to shed about 50 lbs to run up and down the court in an NBA game for more than 15 minutes.

I will admit that Ainge's moves will jump start Celtic ticket sales for a once proud franchise that had fallen lower than the Clippers old basement dwelling days, given where they started from.

I will concur with his assessment of the Pistons except that he will upgrade that assessment from #2 to #1 after about 30 games this year.

Buddha, you seem to have an unrelenting faith in the youngsters that Joe brought. Why do you think they will do great in the NBA?

In general, I like Marc Stein. And I agree that the Pistons had the 2nd best off season in the East.

However, it's tough to take the rest of the article very seriously. Stein ranks Orlando as having the 3rd best off season, because they grossly over-paid for Lewis, while losing Hill and Milicic. Ridiculous.

And Stein ranks Milwaukee as having the 4th best off season, just because they retained Williams and managed to sign Yi. Even more ridiculous.

IMO, Orlando got worse this off-season, and Milwaukee will be one of the worst team in the Conference.

Well, you could say the same about Pistons, they retained their PG and managed to draft Stuckey and Afflalo at lower positions in the draft. I think there are too many variables in the article and you could argue it one way or another.

You make a good point. But I think we would all agree that Stuckey was a much better pick than Yi. And that Joe has managed to completely re-build his bench, by infusing it with very aggressive young players, like Stuckey, Johnson and Afflalo.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee is stuck with big men like Bogut, Villanueva, Gadzuric and Yi. Yuck.

We don't know how Yi is going to develop in NBA. But many analysts had him ranked up in the top 5-6 picks. I know Darko was rated high as well, but those don't come from nothing. As I said in my previous post, you could argue all these one way or another. Similar to critisizing Cavs for not making any moves. First of all, they don't have any cap room left, and second, they made it to the Finals last season. So, do you mess around if it ain't broken?

Don't forget Hayes. I think he will surprise some people (in a good way).