Don't let his TNT gig fool you, Shaq is still waiting to hear from a contender

Well folks, it's been awhile.  We've had a lot of changes this past summer, with teams going from 1st round exits to legit contenders (Rockets), perennial playoff teams to lottery power house (Celtics, probably even the Lakers), and well....those teams that will always be basement dwellers along with A-Rod's dignity (Too many to name, especially with Riggins for Wiggins being in full effect this coming season).  

I'm going to divide this up into 6 parts will try to get them all out faster than between the time of my last post and this one!

Without further ado, here is the first part of the best, but actually worst of free agency:

Atlanta Hawks:

Looks like Walter White won't be the only bald guy looking to build an empire this summer.  Danny Ferry has risen from the ashes like a phoenix (not a Phoenix Sun though, because then he would just come crashing right back down) to rebuild the treadmill playoff kings of old....into the treadmill playoff kings of new!

They offered nearly 10 Million a year to Paul Millsap on a two year deal since nobody really wants to commit to the Hawks long term.

They also fought off those fiends from Milwaukee who love to prey on every single player who's under 6'6 to match a 4 year 32 million dollar offer sheet to keep Jeff Teague within driving distance of the world's first (and I'm guessing only) Coca Cola Museum!

However, what the Hawks really needed and achieved with flying colors was landing a defensive anchor:

Yes folks, Kyle Korver.  A one man wrecking ball on defense.  They even convinced him to stay by giving a him legit backup in Elton Brand to man the front line.

Hopefully the Hawks got the defensive beast Korver pictured above and not the one below:

The Artists Formerly Known as the Boston Celtics:

 

Oh boy, it wasn't that long ago the Celtics were up 13 in a Game 7 for the title, followed up by a very respectable Conference Finals showing in 2012 pushing the eventual champions to the full 7 games as well.

Now?

Well, let's just say they'd be lucky to push the Roswell High Girls Varsity team to four quarters.

They went from a nucleus of Garnet/Pierce/Rondo to Mr. Kardashian/The Corpse of Gerald Wallace/ and Rondo with half a good knee.

It got so bad that even their championship coach took one look at the new roster and fled as far away on American soil as he possibly could to avoid the stench.

Danny Ainge is downright pumped for this coming season...as are all the new Celtics

Well, Danny Ainge always promised to continue building a contender for an east coast town that started with the letter "B"...

Speaking of which...

Brooklyn Netterbockers:

You know, you have to give credit where credit is due.  These guys had some major albatrosses on their roster in Joe Johnson (that contract still sucks) and Gerald Wallace (I was going to post his dollars per basket ratio but my calculator exploded) and looked to be a more expensive version of the Atlanta Hawks in terms of treadmill playoff teams.

But now?

Well they added a new big bald three (Garnett, Pierce and Terry), and look like legit contenders for a title.

There might be some question marks in terms of the age of the roster, lack of a bench, and being led by Jason But I can't coach, for I'm just a Kidd! who I might add is already starting his tenure as the new head coach with a multi-game suspension for a DUI bust.

Still, I'm sure 85% of the league would trade spots with the Nets right now.

Charlotte....Hornets?

Well, they decided to throw $41 million dollars at a center who can't defend worth a lick.

After picking up all those dollar bills from the floor, Al Jefferson looks to be the cornerstone of this franchise that looks to make some noise this coming season!

Ahh, who am I kidding.  You can take the team (name) out of the Bobcats but you can never take the Bobcats out of the team.

Chicago Bulls:

They replaced Marco Belinelli with Mike Dunleavy but the biggest positive is that Derrick Rose looks to be mentally ready for this season (for now, anyway).

They also resigned Nazr Mohammed to a one year deal, which was one year more than what any of the other 29 teams were offering.

If there is an upside to Rose's injury last season, it was that the Bulls were able to find a gem in Jimmy Butler who was a beast defensively (even better than Korver people!) and flourished with the extended minutes (and by extended minutes I mean going from 8 minutes a game to playing the full 48 every game...gotta love playing for Lord Thibodeau)

Really, for Bulls fans anything has to be better than seeing this night in and night out:

Cleveland Cadavers:

They splurged $25 Million on Jarrett Jack, got a nice pickup in Earl Clark (2 years, 9 Million), but the real deal would have to be playing Russian roulette with the bees knees (or rather a player whose knees are as uhh strong as that of a bee) in Andrew Bynum.

The Cavs handed him a two a year deal plus a dollar for every time he hurt himself playing Wii Bowling (That's 24 million folks!).

And finally, even if things don't work for Andrew, at least he'll always have Plan B to fall back on:

Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2 of the Free Agency Primer!