DownSwinging.com

Last night, the Detroit Pistons confirmed the acquisitions of Ben Gordon, from the Chicago Bulls and Charlie Villanueva, formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks. While Ben Gordon’s fit with the Pistons, a team who pride themselves on slow deliberate offensive schemes and a team-defense mentality, can be questioned, his talent cannot be. Gordon is a high-impact signing who will, above all else, help the mediocre team of this past season, put points on the board. Villanueva, on the other hand, is an ideal fit in Detroit. His low presence will create another option in the low post, and while giving Detroit’s big men more of a scoring flare. After seeing the first big acquisitions of the offseason, I chose to pick out some other big names, and let you know where I think they’ll end up.

Lamar Odom: Someone who has always been enigmatic, Lamar Odom could be one of the most talented players in the game. However, his refusal to impose his own will on games has made him an underachiever. It is clear that he has found his comfort zone in his second stint in Los Angeles. He cannot be the main man, as seen with the Clippers, and is best when deferring to one or, even more ideally, two better players. He has found this with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. This, on top of his famous quote: “I was born in New York, I live in Miami, and I play for the Los Angeles Lakers. What could be better than that?”, leads me to believe Lamar isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Destination: Los Angeles Lakers

Trevor Ariza: Another talented swingman for the Lakers, Ariza finds himself in a very unexpected position. As a restricted Free Agent, Ariza was almost certain to re-up with the Lakers, then enjoy the summer months as a defending NBA champion. However, the Lakers are only willing to offer Ariza the mid-level exception of $5.6m. Ariza took this as a slap in the face, and is now looking for greener pastures. The two teams, I see most competitively vying for Ariza’s signature are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets. Both are in desperate need of a small forward who can knock down 3s. The Cavaliers’ needs are more pressing as the LeBron contract issue looms large, and a sense of desperation sets in. Ironically, both of these teams only have enough cap room with which to offer Ariza the mid-level exception as well. But it seems the mid-level offer coming from your family is a bit harder to take than from new teams. Or at least that’s Ariza’s logic. Expect him to team up with LeBron and Shaq to make a Title tilt with the Cavs. Destination: Cleveland Cavaliers

Ron Artest: Ron Artest has made no secret of his admiration for the Houston Rockets organization or Head Coach, Rick Adelman. This is the main reason why I find it hard to see Artest leaving. Another reason is that for every other team in the league, Ron poses a very large risk. Who knows what it takes to make Artest blow-up? But the Rockets know, whatever it is, they’ve got the antidote to Artest’s court rage. He was being courted heavily by the Cavs over the past couple days, but the aforementioned freeing-up of Trevor Ariza, who is six years Artest’s junior, has perhaps been the shiny new toy that has adjusted Cleveland’s attention. Expect Artest to re-up with the Rockets, unless of course, the Yao Ming news comes back worse than hoped. Either way, expect Artest’s signing to affect Ariza’s, or the other way around. Destination: Houston Rockets

Jason Kidd: As you know, Kidd’s best years are far behind him, however, he will still be able to help a title-contender on many different fronts. Having a mature, tough point-guard with a poor shooting touch just helped the Lakers win their 15th NBA championship. Judging from the first few days of free agency, there is a two-horse race underway for Kidd’s services. Mark Cuban and the Mavericks are hoping to hang on to their 1, while Kidd seems to have fallen in love with the New York Knicks. One wonders if it has anything to do with the fact that Kidd played just down the road in New Jersey for so many years. Either way, I see Kidd teaming up with his former Team-USA assistant coach Mike D’Antoni in Madison Square Garden. To me, the matchup isn’t right at all, with New York’s young, run and gun system, but alas the heart wants what it wants. Destination: New York Knicks

Hedo Turkoglu: You can read about this case more in my earlier post. But just as an update, Hedo is being shown around Portland’s facilities today, after having dinners with Head Coach Nate MacMillan and GM Kevin Pritchard. The Raptors were reported to have made a 5-year $60m offer, which has since been “pulled off the table” as well as refuted entirely by other sources. Give this one a week before you see Hedo in black and red in the Pacific Northwest. Destination: Portland Trailblazers