Preview of my season preview

Yes, it's not yet the time to write my season preview. Yet, the recent movements of certain teams has made me write something. We all know how bad the economy of the US is, and likely would be, in the coming months. Revenue of the league is expected to drop, which will directly result in a drop in both the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold. Nonetheless, we saw teams that simply ignored the gloomy economy and made huge salary addition. Of course, many more teams prefer to stay put, or worse, trim down salary, to deal with recession. Another huge factor affecting this year's player movement is the impeding 2010 free agency, which will feature super big names like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and yes, Kobe Bryant. Some of the moves make you applaud, while some just make you scratch your head real hard till it bleeds.

Anyway, here are some teams that have caught all the attentions during the off-seasons. You may treat it as a teaser for my coming up season preview:

Dallas Mavericks - nobody is more active than Mark Cuban. First he traded for Shawn "the Matrix" Marion; then he extended the contract of J-Kidd; then he used the full mid-level exception to make an offer to Magics' Gortat only for the Magic to match the offer; how about the signing of Drew Gooden? Or the signing of Tim Thomas? Mind you, the Mavs made all these addition of talents without giving any of the core of Kidd-Terry-Howard-Nowitzki. With such a roster, how will they rank among all the elite Western teams?

Cleveland Cavliers - ok, they got Shaq, by giving up the washed up Ben Wallace. They stole Anthony Parker from Toronto, and Jamario Moon from Miami. Parker and Moon precisely address their weakness in perimeter defense. Again, they managed to keep Mo Williams, Delonte West, Big Z Ilgauskas (and LBJ). GM Danny Ferry was given the mandate to spend whatever he wants to put up with a roster that (hopefully) can convince LBJ to stay in Cleveland. Well, what is more convincing than winning a championship. But can they do that over the Magic, the Lakers and the Celtics (if KG is back 100%)?

Orlando Magic - frankly, I think they are a mess. On paper, replacing Turkoglu with Vince Carter makes sense. But they just don't know Vince. For sure he will play hard in his first year with the Magic (or any team), but he's just overrated, especially now he's 32 and has lost most of his athleticism. Unlike Turkoglu, this is not a guy that you can trust at clutch time. Anyway, they matched Mavericks' ridiculous offer for Gortat, and they also added Brandan Bass and Ryan Anderson in the front court. This is not the team that went to 2009 Finals. But with so many new additions, the Magic is definitely one of the teams worth watching this year.

Toronto Raptors - I think it's a good move that they got rid of the Matrix. But letting go Anthony Parker? I'm no so sure. I know they signed a fatty contract with Hedo Turkoglu, but I always think that Anthony Parker is a hugely underrated role player. I am not saying that he's better than Turk, but for a substantially lower salary, couldn't the Raptors re-sign Parker and add some more talents, e.g. to fill the SG void? With such roster change, can they convince Chris Bosh to stay next year? How good is rookie DeMar DeRozan?

Los Angeles Lakers - I have said before, IMHO, it's a bad move that they swapped Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest. Artest may be more talented, but with a team featuring Kobe, Pau Gasol and Odom, they don't really need someone who needs the ball to operate. But it is always worth following a team that features Ron Artest. In Hollywood, no less. When is he going to release his new rap album anyway? When will he punch Kobe's face? In October? Or in exhibition games?

Detroit Pistons - Bye bye Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson. Welcome Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon. They spent some $90m on these two free agents. Are they up to their price tag? Exactly, how good is Ben Gordon other than scoring? Is Villanueva too soft or what? Joe Dumars clearly does not want to join the 2010 superstar sweepstakes and decided to spend all his salary cap on two borderline all-star. What is he thinking? Does he know something that we don't know?

Minnesota Timberwolves - For sure this is not the team that can win championship. Or getting to the playoffs. However, this team is full of mystery that you can't help but keep tracking their movements. First is about the coach. Kevin McHale is fired. They have been interviewing 100 candidate and are still not yet decided. What are they going to do? Secondly, they drafted TWO PGs (Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio) in the draft and I really don't know how they can be competitive should they fail to find suitors for etierh Rubio or Flynn. And then there's an undersized SG Wayne Ellington from UNC. What would the team lok like? And they traded away Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smtih and Mark Madsen for Quentin Richardson. Err excuse me, Q-Rich has been battling with countless injuries since you-know-when. And they don't have any depth in the frontcourt after Q-Rich, Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. What the F are they thinking?

San Antonio Spurs - yes, y'all know me. How can I leave out my favorite team in the preview of preview? let's see, they let go Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas. What do they get? Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff. Do I need to go further? Yes, they stole Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee simply because the Bucks owner wants to trim down salary. I think the Spurs' success this year really hinges on the health of the Big Three, cuz the supporting cast is already too much for the opponents to handle.

Anyway, that is it right now. Stay tuned until I deliver the season preview to you, likely in late September.