[trekfan]

Grantland Update: 2009-10 Recap
By Helena Ramirez






Awards:

































Final Standings:























Retirements:












The NBA bids farewell to a two notable players in this ongoing drama, as Shaq and Rasheed — both chasing after one more ring — say goodbye to the league. Shaq had an abysmal, awful, no good, very out of shape season with Cleveland and his lasting legacy may be the infamous “Hack a Shaq” strategy, his battles with Kobe, or helping drive LeBron out of Cleveland.



“Win a ring for the king” quickly became “Coach, I can’t play, my thumb hurts” and then became “Coaching staff don’t know nothin’ about rotations.” Shaq’s season in Cleveland will go down as one of the all-time “old-dog center seasons” in NBA history, joining such past greats as Patrick Ewing in Orlando (ew) and Hakeem in Toronto (Canada’s greatest win in their passive-aggressive war between them and the USA).



Rasheed will be remembered for his amazing ability to throw out catch phrases — “Ball don’t lie” and “CTC” are ingrained in the the basketball culture, though I have to say he’s probably not the first to say either, but he definitely gets some credit for how often it’s repeated on playgrounds/driveways/schoolyards across the nation. His quest for a final ring ended just short as Boston was beaten by the Lakers in seven.



We also bid farewell to Grant Hill, the consummate professional who had some of the worst injury luck in the NBA over the last ten years; it will always be a big “What If” question how his career could have gone had his ankles held up, but at least we got to see a few healthy years for Hill in Phoenix, whose medical staff is among the league’s best for taking injury-prone players and putting them back together (like Humpty Dumpty, except not as eggy).






The Lottery:








The T’Wolves, Kings, and Knicks all had equal shots at the first overall pick, but it was the Wizards who grabbed the honor as the Kings and Knicks both got jumped in the lottery results by multiple teams, none more so than the Washington Wizards.



The new Wizards owner, Ted Leonis — who just took over this calender year — removed most of the front office (most notably Ernie Grunfeld) and almost all of the coaching staff after DC went from 6th to 1st in the draft lottery. League insiders are reporting that Leonis is hiring a big name to come in and establish a new Wizards culture (minus bonehead mistakes and questionable draft decisions) after the dismal finish to this season.



Sacramento gets the 2nd overall pick, and landing there will give them their picking of anyone left on the board after DC picks. The Kings are perpetually in the lottery it feels, as the era of Sacramento being contenders has passed into the ether and the franchise barely resembles the passing deathstar it was during the C-Webb heyday.



The Raptors also benefit here, as Toronto — likely to see Chris Bosh leave in FA — is looking for a new franchise cornerstone and this draft will be key in that search. The Pacers also leapt up high in the lottery and many around the league have them penciled in to take hometown Indiana product Gordon Hayward, barring anyone before them picking Hayward up; Indiana may also try to convince Hayward’s college coach, Brad Stevens, to follow his prized player to the pros and Stevens is reportedly open to the idea.



Minnesota got stuck at five, while New York once more fails to crack the top three and sits at sixth — many around the league believe the Knicks are dangling that pick to other teams for their established superstars and reports are the Knicks are targeting Carmelo in Denver, CP3 in NOLA, and Deron Williams in Utah; one of those three stars is their preferred choice, though there’s still the question of what major free agent this summer may consider them and those implications. If New York gets solid information that a major free agent wants to play with a certain star, expect the Knicks to make the deal — regardless of fit or finances.