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Updated: Aug. 2, 2006, 1:52 PM ET
Champs ring in the season with Big BenBy Marc Stein
ESPN.com
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Next season's 82-game schedules are out for all 30 teams.

The next natural step is combing through all those schedules to identify the most important and attractive games, those dates which require prompt punching into your space-age calendar of choice.

Luckily for you, we've already done it here. The following is our annual summertime list of standout dates from the new NBA schedule:




Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
With D-Wade leading the way, the Heat can think repeat.Oct. 31: Opening Night
Looks like someone in scheduling is pretty excited about a major (but long dormant) TV market's expected return to prominence. The Chicago Bulls haven't won a playoff series since Michael Jordan left them nearly a decade ago, but Ben Wallace's debut in Bulls colors has been deemed sufficiently promising to score the lead-off slot on a two-game Halloween Night ... against the defending champs, no less. Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and the rest of the Miami Heat will be collecting their rings before tipoff, although it remains to be seen whether Pat Riley will be slipping his on as coach or merely as team president.

A bit of bonus advice: If we learned anything during the 2006 playoffs, it's that you don't sleep on the West Coast nightcap. We concede that it'll be a late start in the East, but Phoenix at Los Angeles Lakers is a rematch of last season's thrilling seven-game series, serving up an immediate installment of Kobe Bryant vs. Raja Bell and Amare Stoudemire's likely return to the Suns' starting lineup.


Nov. 1: Opening Night for almost everyone else
Atlanta at Philadelphia is a fitting opener for Allen Iverson fans. The Answer will be playing his first game since the Sixers yanked him off the trading block and vowed not to move him ... but it comes against Iverson's new hometown team. Iverson, don't forget, recently moved his offseason residence to Atlanta. If that sort of back story doesn't get you revved up, perhaps we can tempt you with ESPN's maiden doubleheader of the season: Washington at Cleveland to quickly reopen Gilbert Arenas' free-throw wounds from the playoffs, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix in what figures to be a chilly reception for Sun-turned-Clipper Tim Thomas.

There's plenty more to monitor right from the start of this six-month marathon: Isiah Thomas taking the New York Knicks to Memphis in his first game as Larry Brown's successor; No. 1 overall draft pick Andrea Bargnani making his NBA bow on the road when Toronto visits New Jersey; and the SuperSonics starting what some locals fear to be their final season in Seattle with a home date against their Pacific Northwest rivals from Portland.


Nov. 2: San Antonio at Dallas
The Mavs, still smarting from their NBA Finals heartbreak, are granted the latest possible start time to the new season. The problem? Waiting until Day 3 doesn't seem like such a bonus when the opener pits them straight away against the San Antonio Spurs. At least the game is in Dallas, followed by yet another playoff rematch in the second half of a TNT double shot: Denver at the Clippers in what looms as the first official game back together for Kenyon Martin and Nuggets coach George Karl.


Nov. 3: First Friday Fireworks
Milwaukee at Toronto presents an early opportunity to assess the Charlie Villanueva-for-T.J. Ford deal. New Orleans/Oklahoma City at Indiana likewise presents a fast-arriving opportunity for Pacers fans to hiss at Hornets' newcomer Peja Stojakovic. The night's double offering from ESPN: LeBron James brings the Cavaliers to San Antonio, after which Kobe Bryant's Lakers play host to old pal Ray Allen's Sonics.


Nov. 5: Houston at New Orleans/Oklahoma City
The Hornets' home opener is their first of six scheduled appearances at New Orleans Arena. The presence of NBA TV's cameras also make this (fingers crossed) the first national TV glimpse in months of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming in uniform for the same game.


Nov. 8: Detroit at Sacramento
What does Big Ben's departure mean in Detroit? It means that the Pistons, for starters, have to wait a week before getting their first major national TV run. ESPN's doubleheader opens with Phoenix at San Antonio -- also known as Amare vs. Tim Duncan -- before the Pistons visit Sacramento and new Kings coach Eric Musselman.




Brian Babineau/Getty Images
Who will AI be playing for when November rolls around?Nov. 10: Denver at Philadelphia
If the Sixers undo their new anti-trade stance and wind up dealing Iverson, Philly fans probably won't have to wait long to see him. The Sixers' opening-night opponent (Atlanta) has long been considered a natural Iverson suitor and no team in the league has chased The Answer harder than the Nuggets.

Nov. 17: Toronto at Los Angeles Lakers
Surely you remember what happened the last time we saw the Raptors and the Lakers sharing a floor in L.A. Unofficial over/under on Kobe Bryant's point total: 50. (We settled on something well south of 81 points after new Toronto president Bryan Colangelo was kind enough to re-do most of the roster around Chris Bosh.)


Nov. 23: Happy Thanksgiving
Unexpected development: The league has scrapped its usual double-helping on Turkey Day. No games ... and no protest here. One major holiday without hoops is no crime.


Nov. 24: Dallas at San Antonio
We're guessing Duncan and his Spurs will relish that Thanksgiving off more than most, since it falls between a Wednesday ESPN date with Shaq and the Heat and this ESPN encounter with Dirk Nowitzki's Mavs.


Dec. 14: Orlando at Charlotte
You figure this game made it onto TNT's schedule strictly on the premise that J.J. Redick's back will be sturdy enough to set him against the Bobcats' Adam Morrison. After the Fran Vazquez fiasco from the 2005 draft, Orlando can only hope.

Dec. 22: Philadelphia at Boston
It's Iverson's first game in the land of green since Boston unleashed a torrent of AI trade speculation by almost making him a Celtic on draft night. That should give this famous rivalry a much-needed jolt.

Dec. 25: Merry Christmas
No one will accuse the NBA of holiday excess this season. After a lights-out Thanksgiving, there's only one Christmas Day offering instead of the usual two or three ... and you only get one guess to identify it. That's right: It's Lakers at Heat -- the first Kobe vs. Shaq meeting since O'Neal won his first championship ring without Bryant -- on ABC's first broadcast of the season. For the third Christmas running.


Jan. 1: Boston at Portland
There are only two games on the first day of 2007 and the best of those two is Sebastian Telfair's first game in Portland as a Celtic.


Jan. 6: Detroit at Chicago
Wow. Didn't see this coming. The first of four Pistons-Bulls games isn't until January, isn't in Detroit and isn't on ESPN or TNT. NBA TV will have Big Ben's first encounter with the team that made him famous.


Jan. 15: Miami at L.A. Lakers
It was last Martin Luther King Day when Shaq and Kobe publicly buried their feud. On this Martin Luther King Day, TNT apparently wants to make sure it's a lasting truce.

Jan. 20: Sacramento at Detroit
We probably shouldn't be surprised that this one didn't make the national TV cut, given that it dredges up an episode league officials naturally pray we'll somehow forget: Ron Artest's first game back at The Palace of Auburn Hills since the sadly unforgettable Pacers-Pistons brawl on Nov. 19, 2004. Artest was dealt to the Kings in late January, just a month before Indiana's first of two scheduled visits to Detroit last season. The Kings had already been to The Palace by the time they acquired Artest.

Jan. 21: Dallas at Miami
The every-Sunday portion of ABC's schedule tips off with a Finals rematch: Mavs at Heat. Unofficial over/under on D-Wade's free-throw attempts: 23.


Feb. 1: Cleveland at Miami
You have to wait three months for your first LeBron vs. D-Wade duel this season, but then you get three in the month of February.


Feb. 16-18: All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas
The most anticipated three days of All-Star gluttony in our time? Pretty safe bet.


Feb. 22: Miami at Dallas
Another Finals rematch, this one on TNT. Of greater importance, of course, is the fact that the league's annual trading deadline arrives at 3 p.m.

Feb. 25: Chicago at Detroit
OK. This is more like it. Big Ben's emotional return to Motown is a Sunday lunchtime date on ABC, followed by LeBron vs. D-Wade in Cavs at Heat. Not a bad afternoon. Not bad at all when you can also count on a bonus session in the evening on ESPN: Sacramento at Indiana for Artest's lone Conseco Fieldhouse appearance of the season.


March 1: Charlotte at Portland
Morrison visits Portland for the first time as a pro, after the Blazers ignored the pleas of their fans who wanted them to bypass LaMarcus Aldridge and draft the former Gonzaga star at No. 2 overall. Maybe the Bobcats' new president will make the trip, too, since MJ -- like Morrison -- slipped to No. 3 in 1984 when the Blazers decided they had to have Sam Bowie.


March 17: Utah at Cleveland
We've been writing about this one for three years, but St. Patrick's Day should finally bring us Carlos Boozer's first game in Cleveland since his unforgettably messy exit in the summer of 2004. After injuries intervened each of the last two seasons, we'll go out on a limb and guarantee Boozer's presence for the long-promised boo shower awaiting him. Just don't ask us to explain why this season's only Cavs-Jazz game in Utah is on Valentine's Day instead of this one.


April 1: April Fools' Day
The serious portion of the afternoon comes via ABC. In a re-run of last spring's two conference finals matchups, it's Miami at Detroit followed by Dallas at Phoenix.


April 4: Chicago at Detroit
Big Ben's second visit to Motown will be carried by ESPN and comes just a few days after the Bulls play host to the Pistons on TNT on March 29.

April 4: Seattle at New Orleans/Oklahoma City
Let's be real: Chris Paul vs. Luke Ridnour is a passable matchup at the point, but it's not the hook here. This will be the Sonics' first visit to the Ford Center in OKC since the team was purchased by an OKC ownership group, amid widespread suspicion that the new owners want to move the team to the Ford Center. ASAP. (The Hornets' first of two home games against Seattle, on Feb. 23, will be played in New Orleans.)

April 15: San Antonio at Dallas
Can't say for sure that the Texas rivals still will be battling for the No. 1 seed in the West this late in the season. Yet it does seem safe to suggest that this is a fine way to bid farewell to the regular-season portion of ABC's coverage and shift into playoff mode.


Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.

  Also SeeNBA releases schedule; Lakers-Heat play Dec. 25
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2006-07 NBA Schedule
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[Lu$tmolch]

Updated: Aug. 2, 2006, 3:12 PM ET
NBA announces postseason seeding format changeAssociated Press


The NBA is changing the way teams are seeded in the postseason, looking to avoid the controversy that surrounded last season's playoffs.

2005-06 playoff seedings
East  West 
1. Detroit  San Antonio 
2. Miami  Phoenix 
3. New Jersey  Denver 
4. Cleveland  Dallas 
5. Washington  Memphis 
6. Indiana  L.A. Clippers 
7. Chicago  L.A. Lakers 
8. Milwaukee  Sacramento 

Starting in the upcoming season, the top four seeds -- the three division winners and the second-place team with the best record -- will be seeded according to their win-loss total, guaranteeing that the top two teams in each conference can't meet until the conference finals, the league announced Wednesday.

The NBA had given the top three seeds to division winners regardless of record, meaning a second-place team could not do better than the No. 4 seed, even if it had a better record than a division champion.

That rule came under fire last season when division rivals San Antonio and Dallas were forced to meet in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, even though the second-place Mavericks had a far better record than division champions Phoenix or Denver.

2005-06 playoff seedings
under new format
East  West 
1. Detroit  San Antonio 
2. Miami  Dallas 
3. Cleveland  Phoenix 
4. New Jersey  Denver 
5. Washington  Memphis 
6. Indiana  L.A. Clippers 
7. Chicago  L.A. Lakers 
8. Milwaukee  Sacramento 

Dallas knocked off the first-place Spurs in a thrilling matchup of 60-game winners, capturing Game 7 on the road in overtime.

The league's board of governors also voted to expand the postseason rosters to 15, instead of 13, with 12 players active for each game. That duplicates the rule used in the regular season.

The NBA champion Miami Heat were among those that criticized the policy that forced teams to carry fewer players in the playoffs than during the season.

Also, if a team has two 60-second timeouts left in the final two minutes of regulation or in overtime, one will be reduced to a 20-second timeout. Teams will now have two 60-second timeouts and one lasting 20 seconds in overtime, instead of three one-minute timeouts. Clubs will no longer be permitted to carry over a 20-second timeout from regulation into overtime.

"Our owners are intent on making the playoff seeding more fair for all teams going forward and in quickening the pace of the end of games," NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a statement. "The board also thought it made sense to allow teams to utilize the same 15-man roster in the playoffs that they use during the regular season."
 

[Lu$tmolch]

PREMIERE SPORT hat auch 2006/2007 die NBA im Programm. Wöchentlich gibt es zwei Spiele aus der stärksten Basketballliga der Welt live und exklusiv. Zudem informiert Sie täglich das neue Format

[Ya Kid Ice Puup]

wen interessiert nba ? die sollten mal lieber spanische oder griechische liga übertragen 

[Lu$tmolch]

Updated: Sep. 14, 2006, 2:18 PM ET
Offseason review: Rating the East from Heat to SixersBy Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

Add an unofficial conference championship to the shiny gold trophy they won in June.

That's right. The Miami Heat had the best summer of any team in the East.

Better, even, than the Chicago Bulls had.

Just by getting Pat Riley's commitment to coach another year -- and with an assist from the Bulls, who weakened the Heat's chief rivals by signing away Ben Wallace -- Miami will begin the new season as a heavy favorite to get back to the NBA Finals. It doesn't matter that a clutch of East teams were far more active than the Heat this offseason. No move will have a bigger impact on the title race than Riley's decision to come back to the bench.

With training camps scheduled to open in a little more than two weeks, it's a good time to review everyone's summer dealings. The following is a 1-15, team-by-team ranking of the Eastern Conference based on who has done the best business. (Just to be clear: These are offseason assessments, not predicted order of finish for the coming season.)



1. MIAMI HEAT


Who says you have to bring in new blood to have a big summer? The Heat eventually will need a healthy dose of youth and athleticism around Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, but that's a longer-term issue. This was a momentous offseason even without significant changes.

First, Wade signed a contract extension. Then, Alonzo Mourning agreed to play another season when he had every reason to retire. Then Riley, who had even greater justification to go out on a championship high after suffering through nearly two decades without winning a ring, heeded his players' pleas to come back at 61. Good thing, too, because the Heat wouldn't feel nearly as hot about their repeat chances with any other coach. Believe it.



2. CHICAGO BULLS


Did the Bulls overpay by committing $60 million to Wallace over the next four seasons? Of course. Yet as we've said numerous times, overpaying is the only way to persuade a good player to leave a good situation. The Bulls, furthermore, can handle the expense because they needed a title-tested veteran and because the outlay -- for all the concern about Wallace's offensive limitations -- doesn't immediately take away John Paxson's flexibility to keep improving the roster. Paxson eventually must address the Bulls' lack of dependable scorers, but he still has several trade chips to keep tweaking and should even have some decent cap room to burn next summer.

In the short term, meanwhile, Wallace and fellow newcomer P.J. Brown will lend size and savvy to complement the Bulls' young drive-and-kick stalwarts. As one GM told me recently: "Imagine what kind of [coaching] job Scott Skiles will do now that he actually has a couple bigs."



3. INDIANA PACERS


Donnie Walsh has always been good. But you know the saying: Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good ... and this summer was that time. New Orleans/Oklahoma City could have signed Peja Stojakovic outright, leaving Indy with no compensation for the sharpshooter who replaced Ron Artest in January. The Hornets instead consented -- for a mere cash payment of roughly $250,000 -- to absorb Stojakovic via sign-and-trade, creating the trade exception that (eventually) enabled the Pacers to reacquire Al Harrington for a bargain $35.3 million over four years.

Without that fortuitous trade exception, Indy had no shot at Harrington. With it, Indy became the only team Atlanta wanted to work with on a sign-and-trade because it enabled the Hawks to move Harrington without taking back any salary. Without that trade exception, Indy's summer is a disaster. With the Hornets willing to help keep Harrington away from Golden State, either to help their own playoff odds or to spite Baron Davis, Harrington's return reenergizes Jermaine O'Neal more than Indiana's other 10 new faces combined.



4. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS


What's better than winning a championship? For the Cavs, it's getting LeBron James' signature on a contract extension. That alone made it a celebratory offseason in Cleveland, even if James signed for only three extra years as opposed to the maximum five ... and even though Cleveland lacks the financial flexibility to chase more glamorous free-agent help for LBJ than Scot Pollard and David Wesley.

The flip side to the glee, of course, is that pretty much everyone signed by the Cavs in their summer of 2005 spending spree -- Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, Damon Jones and Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- faces an uncertain future with the club because Cleveland is pressed right against the luxury-tax threshold. The Cavs are thus forced to trade their way into roster upgrades between now and LeBron's free-agent summer of 2010, meaning everyone not named James is at risk for possible relocation.



5. MILWAUKEE BUCKS


The two big Bucks questions: Where would Jamaal Magloire finally go? And how much would Team USA miss Michael Redd's shooting? The answers: Portland and a lot. In the biggest nonsurprise of the offseason, Milwaukee finally parted with Magloire, choosing to ship him to the Blazers for two reserves with favorable contracts: Steve Blake and Brian Skinner. The surprise is that Milwaukee actually made two bigger trades to sandwich the Magloire move.

The follow-up trade sent Joe Smith to Denver for Ruben Patterson. But the biggie came just moments before the free-agent buzzer sounded July 1, sending T.J. Ford to Toronto for Charlie Villanueva in a widely praised small-for-big swap that (A) established Andrew Bogut as the unquestioned starting center, (B) anointed Bogut and Villanueva as the frontcourt of the future and (C) guaranteed a favorable summer report card.



6. TORONTO RAPTORS


The best word to describe the first Bryan Colangelo offseason in Toronto? Decisive. Colangelo knew exactly how he wanted to remake the Raptors and did it quickly, bringing in nine new players. Five of them (No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani, swingman Jorge Garbajosa, Maccabi Tel Aviv star Anthony Parker, veteran center Rasho Nesterovic and 2005 second-round selection Uros Slokar) were either born in Europe or starred there, with Colangelo convinced that players accustomed to more cosmopolitan surroundings will adapt better to Canada than young Americans would.

Will it work?

I definitely wouldn't expect a playoff berth in Year 1, after so many changes and given the inevitable struggles awaiting the NBA newcomers, but the plan already has won Chris Bosh over. The Raps' franchise forward signed a three-year contract extension in July and actually applauded that risky big-for-small trade because Ford is one of his best friends.



7. BOSTON CELTICS


The good news: Paul Pierce was signed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him off next summer's free-agent market. The better news: Danny Ainge didn't pull a Brian Scalabrine and needlessly bestow $15 million over five years to a marginal reserve.

Ainge also just locked up Stein Line favorite Kendrick Perkins on reasonable extension terms ... and I'll even sanction the notion that Theo Ratliff occasionally might provide a much-needed defensive presence. But let's not get carried away.

Even after Ainge acquired Rajon Rondo's draft rights and traded for Sebastian Telfair to join holdover point guard Delonte West, not much has changed for the Celts. They still have a slew of interesting youngsters around Pierce, but we've been saying that for a while now. Unless a few of them graduate from interesting to something, starting with Al Jefferson, it won't be long before the Pierce trade chatter fires up again.



8. ORLANDO MAGIC

The Magic have been quiet lately, but that's fairly understandable. February's ambitious trade swoop for Darko Milicic -- and the knowledge that they'll be major free-agent players next summer, with Vince Carter believed to be their top target -- explains any recent silence. Strong play at the World Championship by Dwight Howard, Carlos Arroyo and Milicic, furthermore, makes it a productive summer for the Magic even though they didn't make any significant roster upgrades ... and even though we can't forget last summer's Fran Vazquez fiasco.

Now to see whether last season's 16-6 finish, with Jameer Nelson at the controls, actually means something. We'll also find out whether the Dukies old and young, Grant Hill and J.J. Redick, can add anything to that promising young nucleus. (One warning, though: Orlando is going to seriously regret not signing Milicic to an extension this summer. The way he's progressing, Darko's price is bound to keep rising.)



9. WASHINGTON WIZARDS


On the surface, it looks as though the Wiz absorbed a significant free-agent defection for the second successive offseason.

On this scorecard, they've responded to Jared Jeffries' exit smartly, reminiscent of their counter to Hughes' big-money move to Cleveland. The Wiz decided they were better off replacing Hughes with two more affordable players (Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels) and have swung a similar two-for-one by using some of the money earmarked for Jeffries to bring in forward Darius Songaila (a good fit for Eddie Jordan's offense) and swingman DeShawn Stevenson.

They also extended Jordan's contract and, in perhaps the biggest development, should benefit from a Team USA snub that figures to have Gilbert Arenas starting the season at his chip-on-the-shoulder best. The Wiz still have to get bigger up front and drastically improve their defense -- chores that likely will require some creative (and lucky) trading -- but I see a better team than the one that lost three playoff games to the Cavs at the buzzer.



10. NEW YORK KNICKS


Knicks fans who blame Isiah Thomas for everything can't lose now. Larry Brown's ouster and Isiah's, uh, promotion to team president/coach will either spark a drastic improvement in the standings or lead to Thomas' dismissal at season's end. What a deal.

The growing consensus seems to be that Thomas can indeed coax a playoff-contending 40 wins out of these misfits by playing a lot of guards and going up-tempo. That's still the way I'm betting, too, figuring that Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis are so desperate to spruce up their reputations that they'll find a way to coexist. For 82 games, anyway.

(As for the only roster newcomer of note: New York definitely didn't need to add Jeffries to a group already teeming with swingmen, given that Thomas also just drafted Renaldo Balkman, but what's a little more payroll overkill for a better defender than anyone else on the books?)



11. DETROIT PISTONS


I'd love to join the Better Off Without Ben chorus. But I can't. If the Pistons still had Milicic, perhaps. If the Pistons had signed Bonzi Wells as their Wallace replacement instead of Nazr Mohammed, maybe. But they don't and they couldn't, thanks to an unlikely chain of events.

The Pistons knew it eventually would be too expensive to re-sign Milicic and Wallace but only consented to trading Darko in February because they believed Big Ben was staying. Yet worse, in my view, was to follow Wallace's exodus: The Pistons quickly signed Mohammed as Big Ben's replacement, only for Wells -- a free agent they loved -- to fall unexpectedly into Mohammed's price range. When Sacramento withdrew its $7 million-a-season offer, Wells was suddenly available for the $5.2 million midlevel exception. But by then, Detroit's emergency fund was gone, robbing the Pistons of an ideal addition to their new 'Sheed-at-center plans.



12. NEW JERSEY NETS


They haven't done a lot, but they weren't expected to. Bringing back Clifford Robinson, after Uncle Cliffy's drug suspension in the playoffs, shows just how limited the Nets' flexibility is. They simply won't be able to do anything drastic to the roster unless Rod Thorn decides to move Richard Jefferson, and I concur with Thorn's sense that it's not quite time to break up the three-man core of Jason Kidd, Carter and R.J.

So I can understand why the Nets went for pedestrian tweaks, such as signing Eddie House and trading for Mikki Moore, while maintaining hope that Nenad Krstic continues to develop and that rookie center Mile Ilic (another Serbian big man) and rookie point guard Marcus Williams (to lessen the toll on Kidd) have a bigger-than-expected impact.



13. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS


If you're itching to see what Michael Jordan does in his reincarnation as a chief of staff, you'll have to be patient.

The Bobcats continue to spend as little as they have to, preferring to focus on the development of their youngsters as opposed to splashing out on a so-so class of free agents. The immediate goal is integrating Adam Morrison and Argentinean forward Walter Herrmann with Raymond Felton, Gerald Wallace and a back-from-injury Emeka Okafor.

And then next summer (assuming he sticks that long) is when we'll get a better read on MJ's ability to get penurious owner Bob Johnson to finally spend. Jordan keeps saying he can and the 2007 free-agent pool is much deeper, with whispers already circulating about the Bobs joining Orlando in the free-agent chase for another UNC high flier of some renown: Vince Carter.


14. ATLANTA HAWKS


Billy Knight bashing is one of the NBA's most popular pastimes, but the Hawks actually have added a few players who might make them marginally better. Speedy Claxton is a legit NBA point guard; Lorenzen Wright was signed to back up Zaza Pachulia; and No. 5 overall pick Shelden Williams joins the Hawks' long line of frontcourt lottery picks.

You certainly can't call it a great summer, especially after the Hawks decided they didn't want anything more than a future first-round pick for Harrington, but at least it wasn't as nightmarish as last summer. That's when Knight bypassed Chris Paul in the draft -- you might have heard here once or twice that Paul wanted Atlanta to take him -- and happily banished Boris Diaw to Phoenix in the Joe Johnson trade ... only for Diaw to blossom into a multipositional wonder the Hawks never knew they had.



15. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS


It has been what you might call a Seinfeldian summer in Philly. A summer, in other words, about nothing. How else to describe what the Sixers have done to change a team environment that, when we last saw them, couldn't have been more toxic.

Philly has consummated zero trades and signed zero free agents -- unless you count Alan Henderson -- amid suspicions that Allen Iverson was yanked off the trading block only because the team is now up for sale. It can't be too surprising that a team has gone quiet on the personnel front while looking for new ownership, but the inactivity means Iverson, after bracing himself for a new start, soon must return to work knowing he was shopped harder than he ever has been shopped before.

Nearly getting traded to Detroit in 2000 sparked Iverson into an MVP-worthy fury in the 2000-01 season, but you're expecting a ton if you think he'll respond like that again. Don't forget that those Sixers had an idyllic blend of role players to bring out Iverson's best. These Sixers, remember, don't like each other, can't guard anyone and are coming back with the same group that ended last season so unhappily.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here