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SI.com's Ian Thomsen covers the NBA off-season:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/07/06/artest.turkoglu/index.html?eref=sihpT1#

The Rich Get Richer

After a season void of any significant personnel movement, the NBA's top teams are reloading for the 2009-10 season. The best teams of this decade (Lakers, Spurs, Pistons) and of late (Celtics, Cavs, Magic) have all made serious upgrades in the early stages of the off-season. If Bill Simmons' theory is correct, that the NBA enjoys its best seasons when the gap between the elite teams and the rest is widest, than we may be in for a great year.

Recent acquisitions:

Lakers - Ron Artest
Spurs - Richard Jefferson
Pistons - Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva
Celtics - Rasheed Wallace
Cavs - Shaquille O'Neal
Magic - Vince Carter

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The Difference Maker

The LA Lakers championship this season can be attributed to many things, and there were many reasons they failed to win it the year before (namely, the Boston Celtics). But one factor that I think was not acknowledged in the Lakers failure two seasons ago, and that made the difference this season, was Trevor Ariza.

Ariza got his due this year (including his name in an SI article headline) and rightly so. But two years ago, after getting injured a quarter of the way through the season, no one talked about the difference he could have made to the Lakers in playoffs. Instead of Sasha Vujacic missing open threes and getting abused on defense again (Ray Allen in game four of the 2008 Finals anyone?), Ariza was making hustle plays and hitting clutch shots for the Lakers in the 2009 playoffs.

What came to my mind was that Ariza played the same role for the 2008-09 Lakers that Manu Ginobili did for the Spurs during their 2002-03 championship season. When you watched that Spurs team play they just had an extra spark that was missing the year before (which ended with an early exit from the playoffs) and Ginobili was that spark. Ariza was that guy for the Lakers this year. Take a look at their averages from the playoffs those two years.












Manu Ginobili 2003 playoffs: 27.5 min, 9.4 ppg, 3.8 reb, 2.9 assists. Trevor Ariza 2009 playoffs: 31.4 min, 11.3 ppg, 4.2 reb, 2.3 assists.