And they're off!!!

Free Agency starts today in the NBA and teams are already clamoring to capture the biggest names and the best players, hoping to make a Kevin-Garnett-esque addition to their team this year and compete for a title.

Well, everyone knows about Baron Davis and Elton Brown. Most people know about Kirk Luol Deng and Monta Ellis. But what really makes a successful off-season is the depth chart.

Last year, This year's two finals teams looked much different than they did as they matched up against each other this June. And while most people will point to Boston's off-season acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and Los Angeles' mid-season trade to bring in Pau Gasol, those moves only tell a small part of the story.


Last year, when Kevin Garnet moved to Boston, his Gargantuan Contract displaced four other players. Add that to the earlier departure of Ray Allen to the Sonics for three players and a draft pick, and you've litterally erased Half of Boston's Team. What's more, two key players from lat year's team didn't return for other reasons (And just as I was getting so anxious to revel in the confusion of Ray Allen and Allan Ray playing on the same team!!!) What's important to note, then, is that after the acquisition of KG, Boston didn't just rest on its Laurels. Instead, they went out and got James Posey (the guy Shaq said "We definitely wouldn't have been able to win a championship with out him" about), Eddie "I can play any style of basketball for 48-minutes-a-night" House, and, later, Sam "The-Anti-Rondo" Cassell. No one will ever know for sure whether or not the Celtics would have won without these key off-season pickups, but what we do know is that they won the Championship WITH them.

The Lakers, meanwhile, went a different route. Last year this time, it was just coming out how miserably ineffective Kobe would be as a GM ("Andrew Bynum? Are you kidding me? This is Jason Kidd! Trade his ass"). For the Lakers, they were thinking "Stability", moreso than shaking up the entire roster. They wanted to convince Kobe to stay and that meant stability. So they turned to an old friend, Derek Fisher. A self described "33 year old Point Guard who just averaged 3 assists per game", but someone who has always been a voice of reason and rationality, a calming hand and a steady ball handler. By the time Andrew Bynum Got injured, the Lakers, with essentially the same squad as a year before, but with Derek Fisher taking the place of Smush Parker, were number 1 in the conference. I'm not making this up. Check the standings from that day. The Lakers had a better record than San Antonio, New Orleans and, yes even Phoenix.

The Addition of Gasol definitely helped them out, but it was Derek who helped them change team around first.

So I said all of this to say that if your team doesn't get Gilbert Arenas or Antawn Jamison or Baron Davis or Elton Brown this Summer, don't feel bad. You never know. Janero Pargo might just be the cog that makes your team's machine run. Stay tuned for all of the pertinent information as I see it.

-'Till next time, folks!