..And it Begins..

…Four months of trade rumours, summer leagues and front-office lowballing. Welcome to the offseason. After last season’s excitement, it’s gonna be an especially brutal separation this year but there’s already been a few big moves and apparently many more on the way. Here’s a quick recap:

- The Draft went down without many huge surprises: the Bulls grabbed their hometown hero, Miami nabbed Beastley, and Kevin McHale acquired the perfect prototype to re-create himself from 20 years ago. I’m not one to be overly critical of draft picks right off the bat; these kids could blossom or flop for any number of reasons, so it’ll take a few months, maybe even years to make any ruling. The only move I hate is Memphis giving up Mike Miller to grab OJ when Mike Conley came back from injury to have a promising season. Do you really need a second point guard prospect? Then again, this is coming from the genius behind the Pau for Kwame fiasco, so go figure.

- The big Draft Night deal saw Eazy-Yi and the Artist formerly known as Bobby Simmons shipped to New Jersey (who are trying to clear cap room to make a run at this dude from Ohio named Lebron who’s supposedly friends with their owner and apparently not bad at ball either) for Richard Jefferson. I dunno why Milwaukee feels they need another talented player who won’t be the franchise leader they desperately lack. I also can’t get why New Jersey didn’t pocket more to help them next year. Oh well. Good luck to both of them. See you in Secaucus next year.

- Baron split Golden State for his hometown Clippers, which they had to have seen coming after his late-season falling out with Don Nelson. Shitty deal for the Warriors, but they likely weren’t heading anywhere soon out West, while if LA would have a nasty lineup if they can re-sign Brand and Maggette and stay healthy.

- Gilbert did what Gilbert does, negotiating a deal to re-sign with the Wiz from China, without an agent, for many millions less than his original offer. Maybe foolish from a financial standpoint, but he’ll give Washington the freedom they need to build a contending franchise, a decision he should be commended for which hopefully more stars will emulate.

- Toronto killed two birds with one stone, having agreed in principle to trade TJ Ford for Jermaine O’Neal, giving Jose Calderon motivation to re-sign and giving them a guy who when healthy dropped 20 and 10 with 2 blocks and gives them the strong defensive presence they need on the block. Hopefully he actually plays this year.

- And finally, the Supersonics era in Seattle has come to an end, after Clay Bennett forked over $75 million to move the team to Oklahoma City. It’s tragic for hoops fans in Seattle, but fortunate for everyone else who was just tired of fucking hearing about this sad saga.