Here we are, at the end of the 2012 off-season. Our first full off-season since that dreaded lockout last year and different teams have had different results. Several teams increased their potential. Several teams increased their star power. Other teams dropped further into the pit. And others still are trying to climb out. Let's take a look at how each team fared this off-season so far.
But first, let's lay out what the "grading" system is.
It goes on a scale of 1-100.
Above a 50 means the team is taking steps in the right direction, whether it be intentionally going towards rebuilding or powering up their team and becoming contenders. A 100 means the most epic off-season ever, so nobody gets a 100.
A 50 means the team had an average off-season. They may have improved, but they hurt their flexibility, or something similar where the result balances out.
Anything lower than a 50 means that the team took steps backwards and took the wrong moves. That's bad, so they get a bad score. Simple as that.
Here's where the semi-complex part comes in. We add three new "variables" to the grades so to speak. Potential, Flexibility, and Depth. These are three main components that a team should look at in the off-season and can affect the grade of a team. Potential meaning how well the team is expected to play during the season, depth meaning how the team did in terms of depth, and flexibility meaning how the team's future looks in terms of cap space. Depending on how the respective team did, it will get a positive or negative P, F or D, with a positive letter being a good thing and a negative letter being bad.
Example: 71 +P +D -F means they had a good off-season and increased their depth and potential, but lost flexibility along the way.
Let us begin.
Key Additions
Key Subtractions
The Celtics may have lost declining sharpshooter and certain Hall of Famer Ray Allen, by they still managed to keep the still ferocious forward and leader Kevin Garnett. The Big Three that had dominated for years is coming to an end and Allen's departure was the first breakage between the three. But losing Allen seems like nothing when you compare him to the players that the Celtics revamped their roster with.
The loss of Ray Allen was filled with another aging veteran, Jason Terry. Although not quite as much of a sharpshooter, Terry is three years younger than Allen and slightly more athletic but much more versatile. He was a key factor on the Mavericks, especially in their title run two years ago. Despite being old, Terry has not had too many health related issues, which has been a problem for the Celtics, who lost Allen for almost one-third of the season. At the time of the signing, most Celtics fans were wishing for a younger, more dynamic shooting guard. The front office answered their calls and landed former Rockets shooting guard Courtney Lee. The additions of these two guards provide a huge boost in the shooting guard position. They also brought back several role players such as Bass and Dooling which don't harm the Celtics really. Drafting
The only problem with all these signings is that most are multi-year deals. This year, the Celtics owe, as of now, $71,137,217 in guaranteed money. They only have three contracts that are expiring this year, and all of them are veteran minimum deals. So by next year, they will have 10 players guaranteed to get paid totaling $57,975,240, which is practically at the salary cap. They would be able to re-sign one player, likely aging Paul Pierce, to go over the cap and then the rest of the players signed could only get deals at vet minimum. That means the Celtics have little flexibility next year so if this year it does not work out, they will have practically the same team moving forward the year after barring any trades.
That being said, at least this year the Celtics will look again to surprise its doubters with its improved lineup. What was lost in Ray Allen was made up in youth, depth and versatility. The team looks fight to remain on top of a increasingly talented Atlantic Division and secure itself a another year in the playoffs. A starting lineup with Rondo, Lee, Pierce, Bass (could possibly be benched for Sullinger), and Garnett is still a formidable team. They have added some good depth in key positions with Jason Terry, Sullinger and Melo (depending on how they pan out). On paper, they look to be a slight stronger team but most of their starting five is still aged veterans. Rondo has been brilliant lately and with Doc Rivers direction could help pull this team in the right direction. They will likely end up have a seeding similar to last year, if not slightly lower due to a strengthening Eastern Conference. However, its still weak so they should be able to make the playoffs with ease.
Grade: 67 +P +D -F
But first, let's lay out what the "grading" system is.
It goes on a scale of 1-100.
Above a 50 means the team is taking steps in the right direction, whether it be intentionally going towards rebuilding or powering up their team and becoming contenders. A 100 means the most epic off-season ever, so nobody gets a 100.
A 50 means the team had an average off-season. They may have improved, but they hurt their flexibility, or something similar where the result balances out.
Anything lower than a 50 means that the team took steps backwards and took the wrong moves. That's bad, so they get a bad score. Simple as that.
Here's where the semi-complex part comes in. We add three new "variables" to the grades so to speak. Potential, Flexibility, and Depth. These are three main components that a team should look at in the off-season and can affect the grade of a team. Potential meaning how well the team is expected to play during the season, depth meaning how the team did in terms of depth, and flexibility meaning how the team's future looks in terms of cap space. Depending on how the respective team did, it will get a positive or negative P, F or D, with a positive letter being a good thing and a negative letter being bad.
Example: 71 +P +D -F means they had a good off-season and increased their depth and potential, but lost flexibility along the way.
Let us begin.
Boston Celtics
Key AdditionsKey Subtractions
The Celtics may have lost declining sharpshooter and certain Hall of Famer Ray Allen, by they still managed to keep the still ferocious forward and leader Kevin Garnett. The Big Three that had dominated for years is coming to an end and Allen's departure was the first breakage between the three. But losing Allen seems like nothing when you compare him to the players that the Celtics revamped their roster with.
The loss of Ray Allen was filled with another aging veteran, Jason Terry. Although not quite as much of a sharpshooter, Terry is three years younger than Allen and slightly more athletic but much more versatile. He was a key factor on the Mavericks, especially in their title run two years ago. Despite being old, Terry has not had too many health related issues, which has been a problem for the Celtics, who lost Allen for almost one-third of the season. At the time of the signing, most Celtics fans were wishing for a younger, more dynamic shooting guard. The front office answered their calls and landed former Rockets shooting guard Courtney Lee. The additions of these two guards provide a huge boost in the shooting guard position. They also brought back several role players such as Bass and Dooling which don't harm the Celtics really. Drafting
The only problem with all these signings is that most are multi-year deals. This year, the Celtics owe, as of now, $71,137,217 in guaranteed money. They only have three contracts that are expiring this year, and all of them are veteran minimum deals. So by next year, they will have 10 players guaranteed to get paid totaling $57,975,240, which is practically at the salary cap. They would be able to re-sign one player, likely aging Paul Pierce, to go over the cap and then the rest of the players signed could only get deals at vet minimum. That means the Celtics have little flexibility next year so if this year it does not work out, they will have practically the same team moving forward the year after barring any trades.
That being said, at least this year the Celtics will look again to surprise its doubters with its improved lineup. What was lost in Ray Allen was made up in youth, depth and versatility. The team looks fight to remain on top of a increasingly talented Atlantic Division and secure itself a another year in the playoffs. A starting lineup with Rondo, Lee, Pierce, Bass (could possibly be benched for Sullinger), and Garnett is still a formidable team. They have added some good depth in key positions with Jason Terry, Sullinger and Melo (depending on how they pan out). On paper, they look to be a slight stronger team but most of their starting five is still aged veterans. Rondo has been brilliant lately and with Doc Rivers direction could help pull this team in the right direction. They will likely end up have a seeding similar to last year, if not slightly lower due to a strengthening Eastern Conference. However, its still weak so they should be able to make the playoffs with ease.
Grade: 67 +P +D -F
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