Central Division additions promise return to glory

This 1980s nostalgia bit has gone too far. I can handle being roped into wearing skinny ties, while spinning a few choice cuts from Steve Winwood's beer-shilling era, but now we have to deal with the re-emergence of the Central Division. Two legitimate Finals contenders, surrounded by three of the hippest young things around. It reminds us of times gone by, when Paul Pressey was bringing the ball up against Scottie Pippen in one arena, while a few hundred miles across the plains, Detlef Schrempf was trying his damnedest to post up against Adrian Delano Dantley. All the while, Ron Harper was dominating the baseline on the banks of Lake Erie.

Radical, man. Throw me a Michelob and kick off your shoes. You can leave your hat on.

Chicago Bulls

Losses: Lawrence Funderburke, Frank Williams.

Gains: Malik Allen (free agent), Eddie Basden (free agent).

Offseason goals: Try to sustain the sort of warm feelings that their first winning season in seven years created; figure out what to do with their pair of frustrating yet talented young bigs.

What really happened: There's still a rosy glow emanating from the City of Big Shoulders, if only because one set of those shoulders (Tyson Chandler) has been retained for six more years, while clueless scoring center Eddy Curry sulks and waits for a giant contract offer that doesn't really exist. Thanks to a cap-clearing deal with the Knicks in the summer of 2004, GM John Paxson gained enough financial flexibility to comfortably extend the contracts of Chandler, second-year point man Chris Duhon and eventually the three other rookie contracts on Chicago's roster. For Pax, this summer was all about holding onto the team's assets while working around the fringes (Basden is an interesting rookie addition at the wing, Allen and potential signee Darius Songalia add depth to an already dynamic frontcourt), and watching his crew of 25-and-unders grow into something special.

Curry is the big question mark. Still waiting for a new contract, Curry seems not only to be overestimating his worth, but underestimating the severity of the heart condition that has had him on the shelf since March. The Bulls can easily live with Curry's on-court foibles, the horrid defense and pitiful rebounding, just as long as he can put the ball in the hole during the first and third quarters. What they don't want to live with is signing a player to a long-term deal without any insurance in place to buffer the financial setback if Curry retires due to his heart ailment.

Outlook: With nine players on the roster clocking in at 25 years of age or younger, you have to like this team's chances to grow into an Eastern powerhouse. Replicating last year's success and another run toward the conference's third-best record, however, will be a stiff challenge. They won't finish the season on a 47-26 tear again, but it sure beats the hell out of another trip to Secaucus.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Losses: DaSagana Diop (Mavs), Lucious Harris, Jeff McInnis (Nets), Robert Traylor, Dajuan Wagner (Mayo Clinic).

Gains: Martynas Andriuskevicius (draft), Mike Brown (coach), Larry Hughes (free agent), Damon Jones (free agent), Donyell Marshall (free agent).

Offseason goals: Nothing big -- just somehow calm a chaotic front office, make the right decisions with oodles of cap space, retain an All-Star center and keep The Next Michael Jordan happy.

What really happened: Against all odds, they got it right. After an inauspicious debut, owner Dan Gilbert backed away from the limelight after handing rookie GM Danny Ferry the reins. Ferry quickly convinced former teammate, and All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas to stick around, talked Marshall into taking another deal below his market value, swept in to nurse the bruised ego of Damon Jones after the sharpshooter was spurned by the Heat, and secured the rights to a dynamic all-around guard in Hughes who should play well alongside LeBron James. Fears abound that Ferry may have mistook activity for achievement in scattering millions of free-agent dollars about, but the team needed a new look after a desultory end to the '04-05 season -- one that saw it lose 20 of its last 32 games.

The signing of Marshall was beyond solid; he immediately becomes Cleveland's best outside shooter, though he'll need to pull double-duty working hard in the Cavaliers frontcourt. Robert Traylor's NBA future is suspect, Drew Gooden's been on the trading block since junior high and crowd favorite Anderson Varejao may be out until Groundhog Day with a bum shoulder.

Outlook: Some may balk at the idea of surrounding LBJ with (relative) graybeards such as Marshall, Jones and Big Z, but I'm not buying it. The trick here is to keep James, a free agent in two years whom many believe is a year or two away from being able to contend for a championship. And based on the way that the 20-year old phenom developed between his first and second NBA season, how could anyone blame Ferry for thinking any other way?

Detroit Pistons

Losses: Larry Brown (lost to New York, sometime last January).

Gains: Dale Davis (free agent), Maurice Evans (free agent), Jason Maxiell (draft), Flip Saunders (coach).

Offseason goals: Add to the trio of imposing frontcourt bruisers; see what the jeweler can do about scraping off that "Right Way" insignia on the championship rings.

What really happened: Pistons boss Joe Dumars barely blinked in the aftermath of the Larry Brown nonsense, carefully pairing a buyout plan with just enough media leaks to let everyone confirm their suspicions about what a pain it could be to work with the legendary coach. Within days of Brown's departure, he officially hooked up with the league's most underrated coach in Saunders, signed Davis and Evans to affordable deals, and let his angry players stew over the unfortunate ending to the '04-05 season.

Outlook: Just as they did in '03-04 under Brown's exacting touch, Saunders should be able to foster an "us against the world" mindset with these guys, and another championship isn't out of the question. Nobody runs a zone like Flip, so can you imagine what it's going to be like trying to score against a frontcourt of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. And Chauncey Billups and Rasheed will love the way Saunders runs guard-around screens for mid-range jump shots.

Indiana Pacers

Losses: Reggie Miller (TNT), Dale Davis (Pistons), James Jones (Suns), Michael Curry (off to miss jump shots with his children).

Gains: Ron Artest, Danny Granger (draft), Sarunas Jasikevicius (free agent).

Offseason goals: Sleep, sleep, sleep; get out of bed like Victoria Principal in Dallas and prey that it all was a dream.

What really happened: No team needed a lazy summer more than the Indiana Pacers, who were beset beyond belief with an assortment of injuries even before last November's melee with the Pistons resulted in the dismemberment of their team. Counting injuries and suspensions, Indiana's 12-man rotation missed an astounding 403 games last season. Take away the suspended games, and that's still an average of 23 games per player. This was an aching lot, from October until May, and team prez Larry Bird decided to show a patient touch with his crew. Jasikevicius was coveted by half the league, but took a pay-cut to bring his outside shooting to the Hoosier State, and though Pacers fans undoubtedly tired of the cliché in the days after the draft, first-round pick Danny Granger does look like a mellower Ron Artest.

Outlook: As illustrated last season, Artest is the difference between this team merely making the playoffs and actually doing something in them. His ability to mix things up on both sides of the ball creates matchup twists most teams cannot counteract quickly. When Artest is on his game, he's a joy to watch. When he's off his rocker, well, that's a different story. Bird hopes that he's established a solid enough support group (on court and off) to keep Artest on an even keel. Whether it's enough to make up for a lost season, we don't know.

Milwaukee Bucks

Losses: Calvin Booth (Washington), Marcus Fizer, Zaza Pachulia (Atlanta).

Gains: Charlie Bell (free agent), Andrew Bogut (draft), Ersan Ilyasova (draft), Ervin Johnson (free agent), Bobby Simmons (free agent).

Offseason goals: To spend their way back to respectability.

What really happened: They may have accomplished their goal by re-signing one-time All-Star Michael Redd to a maxed-out deal, pulling a potentially superfluous talent in Bobby Simmons away from the Clippers and re-signing highly regarded rebounder Dan Gadzuric. Bringing Johnson back seems like a stretch, but he can help tutor the youngsters up front -- at least on the defensive side of the ball. Redd's contract is exorbitant, but the $90-plus million, six-year deal won't turn out to be nearly as onerous as Allan Houston's and Michael Finley's former free-agent deal were; he's too young for that. Still, the Bucks still overpaid. Bogut won't be a stiff, but he won't set the world on fire either. He'll be a competent, borderline All-Star at a position that has precious few players of his ilk. Sounds good enough for me.

Outlook: You have to admire the way GM Larry Harris made a no-holds barred attempt at getting back into springtime basketball, but I still get the feeling the Bucks will be on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around. T.J. Ford's return will mean a few extra wins, and the thought of watching Ford lead a break with Simmons and Desmond Mason on the wings, with Redd spotting-up and Bogut supplying the outlet pass should have fans salivating. Still, there are no nights off in this division, even if the Bucks gave the Bulls and Cavs all they could handle last year. Another trip to the lottery, though, might close the gap completely.