FanHouse Debate In The Paint

Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team did the least this summer to improve.

If the New York Knicks want to get their fans excited about the 2009-10 season, they better be planning some good halftime shows. Or maybe free beer at every home game. Or prizes to those who boo the loudest.

When the only additions to the roster are Darko Milicic and two rookies who will take a few years to develop, you need a creative marketing department.

It's hard to imagine a high-profile team doing less.

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Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team did the least this summer to improve.

Put it this way: I'm just not feeling the Indiana Pacers' offseason. It's not that they haven't done anything, it's just that what they've done isn't much. There have been a few unimpressive offseasons -- with the Knicks, Warriors, Bulls, Heat and Nuggets coming to mind – but we're going with Indiana for least productive.

It's one thing to sit tight if you're knocking on the door to an NBA title and it's fine to simply tinker if you're a playoff team or knocking on the postseason door. But neither of these really describe the Pacers, do they?

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Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team will be the most improved.

The Los Angeles Clippers are going to be pretty good this year. Yeah, OK, so my heart just skipped a little bit typing that. But I think they're going to be OK.

Just how good of a season are the Clippers going to have? Well, I'm thinking they might end up being the most improved team in the league, and, yes, that includes the Washington Wizards, who figure to improve a lot.

Both teams won just 19 games a year ago. But in 2009-10, I'm calling that the Clippers will be knocking on the playoff door. The Wizards might also. But it would be a greater achievement for the Clippers to make the playoffs in the Western Conference than the Wizards in the East.

Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team will be the most improved.

There are two generally accepted ways to massively improve your team's chances during the summer offseason: draft new talent, or acquire new talent by trade or free agency. But the Wizards -- my choice for most improved team of 2009-10 -- have tapped a little-known third way: let all your injured stars return to health.

That was the biggest factor in the return of the Heat, 2008-09's most improved team: Dwyane Wade got healthy, and the team got back to contention. The Wiz stand at the start of a similar path, with Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood ready to roll. Of course, Wade is more vital than either. But together, it's like signing two major free agents at arguably the two most hard-to-fill positions.

Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is LeBron James and what he should do next summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

LeBron James is no fool. Starting this season with uncertainty over his pending free agency would doom the Cleveland Cavaliers, bury them under a sea of unhealthy rumors.

Accentuated by Shaquille O'Neal playing alongside him, basketball would become more circus than serious in Cleveland this season.

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Every Tuesday this summer, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is Michael Jordan and his upcoming induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Is Michael Jordan the best player in all of basketball history?

This is a one-man race.

There have been others who scored more, others who won more, even others who dominated a game or a season more thoroughly, but no one ever has changed basketball like he did.

Everyone else in the room pales by comparison.

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Every Tuesday this summer, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is Michael Jordan and his upcoming induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Is Michael Jordan the best player in all of basketball history?

Hey, I drew the short straw. So, I don't want to hear it. It's come down to me to argue that Michael Jordan isn't the greatest player in NBA history.

Don't get me wrong, I can do it. It's just that I don't go out of my way to pick a fight and this would seem to be doing just that. No, I don't think Jordan's the greatest. But I also know it's tough to win. Hence, the short straw. Nevertheless, here goes ...

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Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is the Toronto Raptors, and whether they are moving toward being contenders in the East.

The Raptors have been the summer's most active team, with Bryan Colangelo moving from high-profile moves like Jason Kapono-for-Reggie Evans to trade-Tourette's yawners like Marcus Banks-for-Matt Carroll. (That last one is still a rumor.) As of today, Toronto will begin 2009-10 with exactly three players who began last season on the roster (Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon).

But not all change is good change. Is this change good change? In my opinion, yes ... and it will vault Toronto toward the East's upper strata.

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Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is the Toronto Raptors, and whether they are moving toward being contenders in the East.

The Toronto Raptors never have won more than 47 games in a season, and they probably never will, which makes this whole debate kind of sad. It's a wonderful city with a lively international flair, but it has a franchise that is destined for a life of basketball mediocrity.

They should have stuck to hockey.

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