The season is long over, and the main rush of free-agency is concluding... it's time for some afterthoughts. (Second-guessing... it's what I excel at!)
Of course the Lakers won, they were better by two years of working together and the Celtics were older by two years and lacking the ideal support pieces they had in '08. Robinson, Finley and Sheed are not Posey, Powe and House. While on the other side, the Lakers were highly criticized for dropping Ariza for Artest. Look, I loved Artest right up until the night that we'd all love to forget in Detroit... he may not have redeemed himself, but he got the title he rightly deserved. Both teams were buried by officiating that appeared to force the series to seven games in which the Lakers were going to run away with at home.
There have been some comparisons to the Lakers of '00 - '10 to the Bulls of '91 - '97... same coach, 5 titles, Hall-of-Fame scorer, solid supporting cast, and if they Lakers three-peat again, it will be even more creepy (and the odds are good... more on that later). Right down to the addition of a crazy defensive stopper joining the team for the ring he needed, the resemblance is uncanny. The only problem, who is Shaq on the early Bulls team? Horace Grant?!?!?? Either Kobe is the second coming of Jordan or Phil Jackson is a miracle worker. Hey, I wonder if his magic could work in baseball or football??
Plans for next season? Well, in order to assess those, let's look at the free agent shake-ups:
The Miami Merger - Really??? Did this just work? Were all the rumors true? Will Chris Paul be joining them in 2012? Bosh and LeBron in Heat jerseys is scary. Of course they are the team to beat now. Of course it won't happen for them. Anytime you spend $330 million on 3 guys for 6 years something bad will happen... what am I talking about? When was the last time a team spent THAT much on 3 guys. Either someone gets severely hurt, or sometime during a tough Eastern Conference Finals loss in 2014 (still seeking their first title together) Wade will mutter something like "it wasn't this hard in '06" and Bosh will sucker punch him while LeBron kicks him in the nuts.
$100 million of bad knees - Speaking of ridonkulous spending, did the Knicks really pay $100 million for Amare Stoudemire?? Did they have one of those "oh, shit" moments when they learned of LeBron's intentions in Miami? I guess this is what happens when you're spurned by a super star. Like when a nice, kinda-dorky guy asks out the model-type he's had a crush on for years, and she shoots him down with no remorse, and he ends up with the ugly, drunk, psycho girl because he has no backbone. People do dumb crap when they are pissed off.
Bull Run - Of the teams that LeBron punked, the Bulls seem to be reacting the best. With the Heat burning cash, the Celtics staying put, the Magic shaking their heads, and the Wizards patiently waiting for paint to dry on John Wall, the East is still open(ish) and by adding Boozer and Korver they should win the Central and contend.
The Draft - The winners? The Wizards, Heat, Warriors, and Clippers (seriously). The losers? The Pacers and Kings... and basically everyone for not drafting J.T. Tiller.
For next season, I'll be pulling for the Heat, but I'll go out on a limb and say Lakers over Bulls after the Bulls oust the Magic and Heat in consecutive series.
Up next, World Cup analysis...
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