Vince Carter goes to the Eastern Conference champions, the OrlandoMagic. Though the Magic lost Hedo, they gained a small forward who can score, pass, and defend better than Hedo. Also, Jameer Nelson will be returning to form. The Magic had an offseason to remember by adding to a team that was the 2nd best team in basketball. Better than Lebron and the Cavs. Better than the Celtics.

The Cavs traded for Shaquille O’Neal by giving away BenWallace and some other scrubs. Shaq will bring the King the ring similar to how he had done in L.A. and Miami. Shaq was an all-star in Phoenix and all the Cavs needed was a dominant big man to take some heat off Lebron. Now the Cavs got their big man without losing anything. It was an offseason to remember….

The Celtics won 60+ games without a healthy Kevin Garnett. The Celtics resigned Big Baby and also picked up superstar free agent Rasheed Wallace. They also signed Marquis Daniels who was a dynamic player in Dallas just two years ago and Shelden Williams who was (allegedly) the master of beating up young white women at Duke. The Celtics had an offseason to remember….

The Atlanta Hawks resigned Mike Bibby and added Jamal Crawford in exchange for the corpse of Speedy Claxton. The Hawks were young and deep, but now they have reached a new plateau and will be looking to knock off favorites like Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando. The Hawks had a great offseason.

The elite Western Conference teams also improved in the offseason. The San Antonio Spurs trade Bruce Bowen for Richard Jefferson. Now Jefferson joins the three headed monster of Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker. Great offseason for the Spurs.

The Portland Trailblazers add Andre Miller to help distribute the ball to the young and talented roster starring Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge. Greg Oden has his first real season under his belt so the Blazers will be much improved from this offseason.

The Dallas Mavericks kept Jason Kidd while adding Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, and Tim Thomas. Kidd and Marion have already proven that they play well together and the Mavs have added depth. The Mavs were under the radar, but had a great offseason.

The L.A. Lakers made the most noise during the offseason by adding Ron Artest and keeping Lamar Odom, who is the team’s x-factor because of his strong play off the bench. After winning the championship, the Lakers have not only stayed strong, but got stronger. The Lakers also had an offseason to remember.

The experts will state that all these teams had phenomenal offseasons, but what they leave out is that there is only going to be one champion at the end of the 2010 season. These teams want to win a championship. There will only be one champion and 29 losers. When these great teams lose, the experts will retract their comments about the great 2009 offseason will criticize the team for its weaker points.

For example, when the Cavs picked up Mo Williams in the 2008 offseason, the experts raved about how great the Cavs were with Mo. Then during the conference finals, the experts turned on Mo and the rest of Lebron’s supporting cast. When the Cavs lost and Lebron stormed off the court, the experts felt that Mo Williams was a weak complimentary player and the Cavs needed more help in order to win a championship. So all of a sudden, the great 2008 offseason of the Cavs was forgotten and the Cavs were pressured to make a big move in the 2009 offseason.

The 2009 offseason to remember will be forgotten as soon as the 2010 champion is crowned and the 2010 offseason officially begins. Few people remember the big offseason transactions that did not result in ultimate success for the team, but everyone remembers the transactions that helped the team win. I remember Pau Gasol helping the Lakers, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen helping the Celtics, Shaq helping the Heat, Rasheed helping the Pistons, etc.

All the other offseason moves over the past several years were noticed but hardly noted with the exception of a few moves that completely change the nature of a team such as Boozer going to the Jazz, Nash signing with the Suns, and Baron being traded to the Warriors. There was no big move this offseason that changed the nature of a team. So this offseason is not the offseason to remember, but just another ordinary offseason.